360 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 28, 1894. 



YELLOWSTONE PARK GAME. 



A few items of interest about the Yellowstone Park 

 have come to us this week, and are given in advance of 

 the full report which we expect soon to receive from Mr. 

 Hough, of the Forest and Stream Game Exploration. 

 After reaching the Mammoth Hot Springs on its return 

 from the Hay den Valley, the expedition made a trip up 

 the Yellowstone River some distance beyond Yancey s, in 

 order to be able to say whether this winter the game 

 gathered, as it has always done, in the valleys of the Yel- 

 lowstone, Soda Butte and Lamar rivers. It was found 

 there as usual in great abundance, and thus the statements 

 of those persons who declare that segregation or a railway 

 line would not interfere with a great winter range for game 

 are again proved false. Our correspondent writes: "You 

 may say positively and without reservation that the whole 

 country of the proposed segregation — all the region around 

 Yancey's, the East Fork (Lamar River), Slough Creek, 

 Hell Roaring Creek and all that bare country clear over 

 to Soda Butte — is absolutely full of elk. I saw 500 in one 

 band, 1,500 at one sight, 30 bands in one day's travel and 

 3,500 Dotal at least count in two days. That section is the 

 very best wintering ground of the whole Park. 



It is evident, then, that there has been no change in the 

 situation; that, notwithstanding the statements that have 

 been made, this country maintains to-day what it has 

 always been, a great winter range for large game. This 

 we knew, but in view of the extreme importance to the 

 public of this matter, it seemed to us worth while to 

 expend some time, energy and money to bring forward 

 additional testimony, carried down to date and incontro- 

 vertible in its character. 



The fiendish malignity of the butcher Howell, who 

 was recently captured in his buffalo shambles, is shown 

 by an examination of such of the animals slain by him as 

 were brought to the fort. Only 9 out of the 11 animals 

 killed at this particular place were saved and transported 

 to the fort, the other hides having spoiled through lack of 

 care. Of these 9 buffalo 7 were cows heavy with calf, 

 while only 2 were bulls, one a yearling and the other an 

 old one. It would almost seem as if Howell's buffalo 

 slaughtering expedition into the Park had been inspired 

 by malice rather than by the hope of gain — as if he had 

 gone there for the sole purpose of doing as much harm as 

 possible. Here he was killing cows about to drop their 

 young, and even young calves, when big bulls, which 

 would be more salable, were readily accessible. 



One of Captain Anderson's men named Matthews, who 

 was stationed at Riverside in the Yellowstone Park, left 

 that station March 11 to go for mail to a neighboring sta- 

 tion. A sergeant accompanied him for some miles and 

 then turned back, and Matthews has not been seen since. 

 It is thought that, overtaken by a snowstorm, he may have 

 become bewildered, lost his way, wandered off and per- 

 ished. 



"Benny to May." 



„ v ,, _ , [Southern papers please copy. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A Dallas City, 111., duck hunter last week killed a mal- 

 lard drake in the gizzard of which was found a plain gold 

 ring, evidently solid, and valued at between five and 

 six dollars. On the inside of the ring is engraved the 

 words "Benny to May." The question that is puzzling 

 the people is how the ring come in the duck's gizzard, 

 and where and who are Benny and May? As Forest 

 and Stream circulates all over the whole country, let us 

 see if we can't find out who Benny and May are. 

 Evidently the duck was on its way from the South to the 

 Red River country in the Northwest. May might have 

 lost this ring while fishing in some of the Southern lakes. 

 There may be one chance in a half a million for May to 

 get her ring back again. W, o. B. 



On the Principle of Life Insurance. 



With the restocking that is now being attended to in 

 some of the States, and if measures are taken to stop the 

 sale of game, shooting will be as good twenty years from 

 now as it has been in the past. Every man should do 

 what little he can to keep the game from becoming scarce 

 if not extinct. A man will have his life insured so as to 

 provide for the comfort of his family after he is gone 

 Now, why not let him provide for their amusement and 

 recreation, by doing his best in behalf of the preservation 

 of the game, so that they can reap the benefits of the most 

 healthful and invigorating sport God has given us? 



E. C. K. 



The "First Close Season." 



In the Game Laws in Brief is given a reproduction of a sixteenth 

 century picture of Noah's Ark, with Noah and the animals coning out 

 upon Mount Ararat. The Brief calls this the ending of the first close 

 time on all species of game, and the inquiry was made in these 



C j? mm ? s < £° W long was Noah in the Arj£? We o^ed a copy of the 

 Brief for the correct answer. Here are some of the replies ; are they 

 correct/ J 



In '-Hartford's" comments on the Brief, and his claiming the reward 

 for errors m the duration of the "first close season" only being forty 

 days, he is mistaken. But the exact days are hard to give and mv 



W0UU m f.t Jt 240 ^ K this is correctfnougn I 



open for a copy of the Brief. T _ j Cutler 



According to my reckoning it was one year and ten days before 

 Noah left the Ark. If I am right please send me the Brief 



Sumner P. Rosebhook. 

 Noah was in the Ark one year and ten days. J. j\ Stoddard. 



The "close season" referrei to by "Hartford" lasted one year and 

 ten days. For the beginning see Genesis VII., 11-12-lg; for the ending 

 see Genesis VIII., 14-15-16. The first reads "In the 600th year of 

 Noah's life in the second month and seventeenth day of the same 

 month Noah entered the Ark. In the 601st year of Noah' s life fto he 

 5S8?# #,° nth ^twenty-seventh day Noah went firth out of the 

 to ;L £ neref r ore lt . la 8ted one year and ten days. If I am right send 

 me the Game Laws in Brief. James N rvnprrx 



t [ ^"h e re 0 cb0 2 ir >ge been by the Gregorian calendar or by the 

 Jewish calendar? and should not the Jewish be employed"] 



A NEW-SUBSCRIBER OFFER. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending us 85 will receive for that buo, 

 the Forest and Stream one year (price 84) and a set of ammerman'e 

 famous "Ducking Scenes" (advertised on another page, price 85) -e 

 89 value for 85 



This offer is to new subscribers only. It does not apply to renewal* 

 For S3 a bona fide new subscriber for six months will receive th« 

 Forest and Stream during (that time and a copy of Dr. Van F -w>' 

 handsome work. "Bird Portrait* for the Youur" rthe prloe of whHb 



ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 



(Continued from Page 339.) 



Breakfast was prepared and over in a twinkle almost, 

 and then the tents and provisions were as quickly aboard 

 the Mackinac, and with a stroke or two we shot into the 

 broad lake that was tossing in wavelets of silver. The 

 breeze was a mild one, but it filled our sails and sent the 

 boat along with graceful ripples and tinkling sounds. 

 I was in delight with the prospect as we gently moved 

 o'er the waters and studied the high receding shore with 

 admiring eyes. The rocks for some distance ran very 

 confusedly and wildly. Here we saw a huge split in the 

 flinty bulwarks, which formed a lovely cove; then would 

 come great frowning buttresses with their scarred faces, 

 telling of the fury of the elements which had for ages 

 battled fiercely against them; anon, a sloping hill in wood- 

 land green would gracefully reveal itself, to be soon 

 retired by some savage cliff, the beauty of which was in 

 its rough sculpturing and its variety of dint and dimple, 

 now enriched with the flashes of the advancing sun. 



A range of glittering mountains, chiseled into lines of 

 grim expression, suddenly comes in view as we clear a 

 jutting point. There they stood, looking down upon us 

 with a majestic sublimity, as if they were "the great 

 cathedrals of the earth with their gates of rock, pavements 

 of cloud and choirs of stream and stone, altars of snow 

 and vaults of purple," fit subject for the genius of a 

 Turner. Th^se ran to the perpendicular bulwarks and the 

 adjacent islands of Aguawa harbor, which glistened like 

 emeralds on the green sea. Turning a point at right 

 angles, we slip along the deep channels in this picturesque 

 harbor, doubly fortified by beetling cliffs in aged gray and 

 beautiful beyond expression with their tops draped in 

 delicate mosses, rare lichens and a few wild flowers in 

 blue and gold that had sprung into life from the narrow 

 crevices. 



The fierce sun, as we reach these wave-worn shores, is 

 now fast beating the wind into mere whispers, indicative 

 of hard toil for our men. They had been expecting this 

 calm, and when it fully realized, lowered the sails and 

 sprang to their oars with commendable activity, sending 

 the boat along with increased speed o'er the dying ripples 

 v and by shores that were fast losing their precipitous grand- 

 eur. 



Ned said, as we emerged into the more open lake, that 

 we were now reaching fine trolling waters for "shore 

 Mackinacs," and with an eye to greedy sport got out his 

 trolling line and sent the silver spoon spinning on its 

 treacherous pot-hunting mission. I informed him that 

 there were already a dozen trout in the boat and that more 

 would be wanton waste, but he smilingly replied, "We'll 

 make it a baker's dozen, and then wind up." 



Many a mile he trolled before he had his first strike, and 

 that he lamentably missed. Just about a mile from our 

 destination he felt another savage snap at the spoon, and 

 this time he had his victim in his toils. I inwardly prayed 

 that the unfortunate fish might escape, in hopes of having 

 a little fun at his expense, but he safely landed it, thus 

 completely turning the tables on me. It was about a 

 four-pounder and in prime condition, and the half-breeds 

 said it would prove almost as rare a tid-bit as the tooth- 

 some trout. An accomplished chef, when he serves the 

 latter fish, gives you a dish of "choicest sort and savor." 



Ned, satisfied with his victory, drew in his trolling line 

 and consigned it to his tackle box with the remark that it 

 is a more deadly lure than the most attractive fly, for an 

 impaled fish has not even the ghost of a chance to flop his 

 tail till he is in the bottom of the boat. 



"And yet," said I, "you practice the trick." 



"Only on rare occasions." 



"And why then?" 



"Simply because I am impelled with the demon desire 

 to destroy." 



"A frank admission of the savage nature of a bar- 

 barian." 



"Here, here; call off your satirical bulldogs." 



"Off it is then," and the subject of the questionable 

 sport was relegated to oblivion. 



We were now in sight of Jackson's Cove and the old 

 familiar grounds where we had time and again taken un- 

 limited trout, and it impressively recalled the pleasant 

 memories of that sport. 



"Yonder." says Ned, pointing to some ponderous rocks 

 that rose up from the lake with smooth rounded tops, "is 

 where we murdered many a tinted innocent with the 

 illusive fly, and just beyond where the sunbeams are 

 chasing away the dark shadows of the sombrous pines is 

 where you made your notable double catch." 



"And don't forget, Ned, that it is the exact locality 

 where the big trout got away with your big fly and caused 

 a lamentation on your part that was perfectly heart- 

 rending." 



"Yes, but the loss of such a monster would make any 

 angler weep and wail." 



"Here we are at the point where one muggy morning 

 we spoilt a whole day's sport by catching enough in half 

 an hour to last the camp a couple of days or more. Do 

 you remember?" 



"Yes, but I'm positive those halcyon days will never 

 recur again." 



And so we continued wilh the delightful reminiscences 

 of other days, so full of subtle pleasure, so fragrant with 

 tender memories, so sweet with the charm of the gentle 

 craft, until we struck the sandy beach at Jackson's Cove 

 and commenced the work of unloading preparatory to the 

 establishment of our quarters. It was a wild and lonely 

 place, grand and picturesque in its rugged mountains 

 and sublimely beautiful in its valleys of pine and hem- 

 lock. In our immediate front reposed tne Lizard Islands 

 with their unviolated forests; to the east, Sand River a 

 notable stream that forces its way through walls of solid 

 rock, leaving in its wake pelltcid pools, tossing rapids 

 and torrents of foam; to the west, Blind River, a dimplin°- 

 little wandering ribbon of water, the very ideal of a trout 

 brook, tumbles into the lake with scarcely a ripple- fur- 

 ther along, Gravel River, a more pretentious stream 

 winds its serpentine course through sbady dells and over 

 rims of rocks with a delightful gushing sound truly sug- 

 gestive of fairy haunts. Follow the crescent line of the 

 stern and rugged shore beyond this, and Gargantua with 

 its islands and precipitous cliffs are standing out like 

 giants to sentinel this enchanted land, and then the 



ragged coast disappears in a receding angle, leavings 

 nought but the great shimmering sheet stretching into 

 the dim distance like burnished gold. Such was the pros- 

 pect ever in view from this place, and no grander or more 

 impressive landscape of bold beauty could be found along j 

 this great basin. 



Here we expected to remain for weeks, if we found the 

 lake at all populous with the fish that radiate in the robes 

 of the three-fold tints. With a view of just feeling the 

 pulse of the waters, I at once put my rod together and 

 after reel and line were in position with my two 

 favorite flies, a silver-doctor and a gray-hackle, dangling ; 

 from the leader, I started for the outside of the gigantic 

 granite, where there were magnificent ledges of rock and 

 where We never failed to capture a trout at the first or 

 second cast. 



"If you hear me yell, you know what it means," I said, 

 as I tramped to the outer rim of the massive masonry. 



"All right," says Ned, who had concluded not to fish 

 until everything was in complete order around the camp. 



As the water rippled but slightly, I carefully approached 

 the spot, and when within about 30 ft. of it let my 

 flies sail out and drop with a delightful softness; then a 

 flutter followed by an upward rise of the deceits, and with 

 a curve forward they light again in the desired place. 

 This time there was a gleam of silver, a vigorous snap for 

 the lure, and racing ripples and nothing more. I had 

 missed and keenly felt tbe disappointment. Once more 

 the flies drop and again the trout springs with tiger-like 

 bound for the feathery deceits, but alas! he tempts his fate 

 once too often, for the angler behind the rod is on the qui 

 vive for just such a desperate dash, and sinks the cruel 

 steel into his snapping jaws, and then the fight is on. 



Away and away dashes the infuriated and bewildered 

 fish with the rod bending and the bright reel singing until 

 the braided thread is many yards distant. A slight pres- 

 sure sends him to the top, when upward he vaults and 

 shakes the diamond drops from his scarlet coat. Once 

 more, as he enters his element, he is off, cleaving the 

 silent water and straining the tireless thread as it rolls 

 again from the silver spool under another gentle pressure. 

 This frets him beyond endurance, and then as if gathering 

 his remaining strength for some grand coup, checks his 

 onward speed, hesitates a moment — a fatal error, resulting 

 in the recovery of much line and the further bewilder- 

 ment of the red-coated captive. I could almost feel his 

 strength waning as he came along to the click of the reel, 

 but he was far from being conquered, for with a sudden 

 and fierce plunge he started once more for deep water, 

 making dashes right and left in his onward move. Satis- 

 fied that his strength and savageness were well worn, I 

 test the strength of the little Chubb rod with satisfying 

 results in bringing him to a halt, and then inch by inch I 

 reel him close to the rock, where I have the pleasure of 

 seeing his evanescent tints as they gleam through the 

 translucent waters. I feel that I now have the battle 

 nearly won, and desiring the services of a netter I shout 

 the promised hallo, and then the pattering footsteps of 

 Peter fall pleasantly upon my ears. Reaching my side, I 

 instruct the intrepid half-breed to take position on a flat 

 rock at the water's edge and there await until I had the 

 impaled trout completely killed. A few more feeble 

 dashes, a splash or two, a tremble and a quiver, and then 

 his spangled sides m eet my admiring gaze. Carefully and 

 patiently I draw him along and when he is within a few 

 feet of my trusty aid I signal for the sweep of the fatal 

 net, and instantly it drops with an unerring aim and 

 skillfully closes around the enameled beauty of the icy 

 lake. Proud of his skill, the tawny boatman with a tri- 

 umphant smile springs up the inclined rock and then 

 holds aloft for admiration as lovely a specimen of a jew- 

 eled beauty as ever rivaled the colors that outblush the 

 rose or dim the crimson of the clouds. 



"Just out of the swirl of the veering stream, 



In niches and caverns 'neath moss-fringed shelves; 

 Like gossamer floating in idle dream, 



In wildest haunts hewn by the river elves, 

 In castles of crystal whose turrets old 



And battlements rugged like networks rise, 

 In vestures of silver and azure and gold, 

 The indolent king of the river lies." 



"His weight?" 



"Three pounds to a dot." 



Ned, who had been in at the death of the glittering 

 prize, was so delighted with the prospect of our old time 

 sport that his rejoicing took place in an impromptu warble 

 reciting that: 



An angler stood on a moss grown rock, 



And sang till his throat was sore; 

 For all day long he sang this song, 

 "We'll meet 'em on this lonely shore." 



"Shall I arouse another beauty?'" said I, after Ned had 

 finished his amusing aria. 



"No, no; let the preserve alone for an adverse day." 



I saw the wisdom of his advice, and then taking up the 

 trophy we all returned over the rounded rocks to our 

 quarters and busied ourselves making the camp complete 

 for our comfort. 



About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, having our quarters 

 in good shape, we took the boat and skirted around the 

 east arm of a small bay, intent only on ascertaining 

 whether the trout had all been gill-netted here the same 

 as below. We were, however, very agreeably surprised 

 at our investigation with the lures, for on the second cast 

 made by Ned, he hung a lovely darling that gave him a 

 world of pleasure in an exciting battle. It was a full two- 

 pounder and as "pretty as a pink" in its bright colors of 

 silver, orange and gold. 



Reaching a sloping granite wall a few yards in advance 

 that ran into the lake in ragged seams, and just where a 

 dreamy sunshine was idling with weird shadows, I let my 

 flies, a Henshall and scarlet-ibis, gently drop o'er the 

 fissured lines, and ere I commenced the flutter, a trout 

 with savage fury took in the Henshall, and after a vigor- 

 ous struggle, with all the accompaniments incidental 

 thereto, I landed him as a companion for Ned's peerless 

 idol. This satisfied us that the ruthless barbarians had 

 left these waters untouched and that we would here have 

 weeks of delightful sport. Coming to the big rocks which 

 had always been a favorite spot with us, we went ashore 

 to fish them from their rounded tops. Ned, as soon as he 

 landed, ran to the upper end, the choice place, where he 

 made a pre-emption claim which ruled me out according 

 to the ethics of the guild, and so having the cream elimin- 

 ated, I contented myself for a while with "starvation 

 point," the adverse end, though I fully determined when 



