Oct. 20, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
335 
home, my friends pointed out a field in which five chick- 
en a had been found and killed earlier in the season, and 
added that those birds were the only ones seen or killed 
this season in their section. A few years ago chickens 
were thicker than blackbirds in that neighborhood, but 
the raarket-hunter has been around since then. 
By the way, "Diamond Walt" speaks of that bevy of 
quail at the Grafton Park. They must be something more 
than the common variety. I didn't know that quail piped 
"Bob "White" so late in the season. W. R. H. 
NEWFOUNDLAND AS IT IS. 
ST. John's, Newfoundland. Oct. 2.— Editor Forest and, 
Stream: I have jnst read a letter in one of your recent 
issues bearing the signature of Richard Dash wood, known 
here as General Dashwood, an English general, in which 
the writer announces that my book, entitled "Newfound- 
land in 1894; a Hand-Book and Tourist's Guide," is "full 
of gross exaggerations respecting some subjects on which 
it treats." The principal of these subjects on which he 
alleges I have exaggerated "grossly" is the soil and 
climate of the island. The soil, he declares, is poor and 
barren, "except in a few isolated spots," the reports of 
fertile soil in the Exploits, Humber and other great val- 
leys, he affirms, have no foundation in fact, while the 
climate "is all against farming, the summer being too 
short and too cold." 
These are bold assertions, but they are unaccompanied 
by any proofs except the ipse dixit of General Dashwood. 
In the chapter of my book devoted to the agricultural re- 
sources of the island, I was careful to make no statement 
that was not sustained by the highest and best authori- 
ties and to affirm only what was warranted by facts. My 
statements are based mainly on the Reports of the Geo- 
logical Survey, but also on a mass of other corroborative 
evidence. That survey was commenced thirty years ago 
by one of the most eminent geologists of the day — the late 
Alexander Murray, C.M.G., F.G.S. — who had been a col- 
league of Sir Wm. Logan for fourteen years in the geolog- 
ical survey of Canada. Since his death it has been con- 
tinued uptill the present time by Mr. J. O. Howley, F.G.S., 
whose ability and veracity are too well known here to be 
called in question. If General Dash wood's assertions are 
true then these two distinguished scientific men have 
been systematically lying, and either wilfully or stupidly 
deceiving the public. After years of careful and labor- 
ious examination of the whole island, they affirm that its 
agricultural resources are very great, and that it contains 
between four and five millions of acres admirably adapted 
for settlement and for cattle and sheep raising, while its 
timber and mineral resources are extremely valuable. I 
have quoted their reports and added the testimony of 
observant travelers, of railway engineers, of governors 
and others who had every opportunity of collecting exact 
information and who are incapable of deception. I have 
added statistics taken from the census as to the actual 
products of cultivated land, the value of which in 1891 
was $1,563,392. A residence, on my own part, of forty 
years in the country, and the information obtained by 
traveling and by personal intercourse with the people, 
might be supposed to count for something. As to the 
climate, the evidence I have adduced shows that the 
General has been guilty of "gross" misrepresentation, and 
that the climate is well suited for farming. 
General Dashwood is perfectly aware of all this, and 
yet in the face of this evidence he calmly declares that 
the soil is barren, "of a poor, sandy, stony nature," and 
the climate unsuitable for agriculture. He treats with 
contempt the conclusions of scientific men who have 
spent thirty years in careful explorations of the interior, 
and ignores the opinions of statesmen, travelers and edu- 
cated men who have spent their lives in the country. 
Facts are against him, but "so much the worse for the 
facts." In vain have committees of the Legislature and 
agricultural societies presented, again and again, highly 
favorable reports of the soil and climate. In vain have 
trained observers explored the island in all directions. He 
dogmatically contradicts them all and declares that there 
is no agricultural soil here, only a wretched "compound 
of sand and stones." He expects us to accept his unsup- 
ported statements, and regard all the others as fools and 
falsifiers. 
I venture to take my stand with those whom I have 
named and to pronounce General Dashwood guilty of 
"gross exaggerations" and misleading assertions in his 
attempt to depreciate the country. 
He does not act without a motive. The General having 
retired from the active duties of his profession, devotes 
himself to sport. He is a "mighty hunter" — in particular 
an eminent deer slayer, and he "gives his whole mind" to 
the work. For some twenty years he has made an annual 
visit to Newfoundland, and spent a good part of the sum- 
mer and autumn months in shooting; so that at length he 
has got to consider the island as one of his preserves. He 
feels bound to take care of it and not let it be transformed 
into a wretched agricultural country, seamed with roads 
and railroads and dotted with farmhouses, to the loss and 
disgust of all true sportsmen. In an unguarded moment 
he once denounced to Mr. Howley, our geologist, "these 
blanked railways, as they would be the means of driving 
away the deer and destroying the only decent hunting 
ground left to sportsmen." He has accordingly devoted 
hiB energies for years to depreciating the island, and kindly 
and disinterestedly warning settlers from coming here, 
and advising capitalists against investing in our railroads. 
This has become a fixed mania with him, and we have 
learned to tolerate and laugh at him. In 1888 he was 
present at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 
England, at which a paper highly favorable to the island 
was read by an English traveler. He rose and protested 
that "the land described as agricultural consisted of rocks 
and bog and the timber scrub." Many million feet of this 
"scrub" timber are now annually exported, and it is ac- 
cepted in the markets as the finest pine lumber. I brought 
him to book about this and other utterances in a letter 
published in the Proceedings of the Geographical Society 
as well as in our local press; so that we have been fair 
foes ever since. The new railway to Port-au-Basque has 
renewed his alarm, and my book, in which I commend it, 
has kindled his wrath afresh. Hence he runs a tilt 
against it. 
He has not even the grace to speak well of the island 
as a sporting country. He wants to keep it for himself 
and friends. In particular he dreads the advent of the 
Yankee sportsmen and kindly informs them through the 
columns of your journal, that there is really no game 
worth coming for; but he throws suspicion on himself by 
coming asjusual this year and going out on shooting 
excursions. Some two or three yearsjago, he and some 
other sportsmen are reported to have slaughtered some 
seventy or eighty deer, leaving their carcasses to rot and 
taint the air, so that the creatures fled from that part of 
the island, to the great loss of the local inhabitants. To 
prevent a recurrence of such unsportsmanlike slaughters, 
leading to an extermination of the deer, the Legislature 
passed a law fixing $100 as the annual charge for license 
to non-residents, for shooting deer, and enacting that not 
more than six stags should he killed by one person in one 
season. This has caused the cup of his indignation to 
overflow, as his letter shows. 
To assail my book is a small matter; but I submit the 
General ought to have paused before he ventured to attack 
our new railway and arrogantly declare that "it could 
never pay," and broadly hint that those who spoke well 
of it were influenced by selfish motives. What can he 
know of the matter except that it may disturb his deer? 
The people of Newfoundland are practically unanimous 
in their approval of this railwav, which will open up the 
fertile lands, the mineral and forest areas, and impart an 
impulse in the direction of progress such as the country 
has not known before. At all events the railway is hon- 
estly built by the colony itself, the bonds being guaranteed 
at 3-J- per cent, by the Legislature. It may be presumed 
we know our own business quite as well as the gallant 
General who does his best to thwart a great national 
enterprise. We are unable to see why a great island, one- 
sixth larger than Ireland, having vast natural resources, 
as I have proved in my book, should be allowed to remain 
undeveloped, in order to furnish a sporting ground to vis- 
itors from other lands. M. Harvey. 
P. S. — I beg to forward a copy of my book to Forest 
and Stream. I may add to the foregoing that Gen. 
Dashwood knows very little about the interior of the 
island. When he arrives he reaches his hunting grounds, 
which are the high and barren regions, by the shortest 
route, and the fertile valleys of the Garden Exploits and 
Humher have never been traversed bv him. nor has he 
ever been in the splendid valleys of Bay St. George or 
Codroy. From the wild and barren hunting grounds he 
forms his opinion of the whole island. H. 
SOME SQUIRREL SHOOTING 
Indiana, Oct. 1. — This morning, Sept. 29, was one of 
the ideal squirrel mornings — warm, partly cloudy, and 
not any wind. As I have never outgrown my boyish 
fondness for the sport, and my wife was to be away for 
the day, leaving me to lonesomeness, and I was anxious to 
give a new nitro powder a thorough practical test, it was 
soon settled that I would drive as far as Bean's woods, 
two miles down the road, with my wife, and then hunt 
back toward home. Now the proper time to get into the 
woods for squirrels is just before daylight. At this time 
of year they can be heard chipping beech nuts and acorns 
before it is light enough to see them, but I did not get 
into the woods till 9 o'clock. By this time they have done 
feeding and are mostly taking things easy, in a fork or on 
a big limb, so there was not a good prospect for lots of 
shooting, but there was the pleasure of a stroll through 
the grand old woods, admiring the big old oaks and pop- 
lars that were giants when the Indians hunted beneath 
them. I could look up for squirrel "sign," too, and learn 
whether it was worth while to come again, and it was 
probable if they were plenty that an occasional one might 
show himself. 
The woods were entered along a rail fence that ran 
across it, and 1 walked along a cattle path beside the 
fence. The dead leaves were so dry that it was useless to 
walk on them. The woods are full of woodpeckers, every 
one of them busy picking beech nuts or acorns, and hiding 
them under the shags of hickory bark, in hollows of the 
trees, and in holes they dig for the purpose in rotten 
wood. They are busy as a swarm of bees, and every one 
of them are chattering till they make a perfect bedlam, 
and the beech nut burrs they loosen are dropping con- 
tinually. Looking under a number of beeches I find many 
burrs, but none af the inner covering or shell of the nut, 
so woodpeckers did it all. Next I look under a white or 
pig nut hickory, and find lots of outer hulls but no inner 
ones, and no nuts on the ground. Gray squirrels had no 
hand in this. It was flying squirrels did it, in the night. 
Gray ones would have eaten the nuts in the tree and 
dropped the chips, but under a big white oak I find many 
shells and chips, and half-eaten aoorns. That was a 
squirrel, and no doubt a fox squirrel, for the grays are 
not fond of white oak acorns if they can get pin oaks or 
beech nuts. 
Just then my attention was attracted by the peculiar, 
half angry, half protesting cry of a wood pecker; a noise 
that he makes only when a squirrel comes near one of his 
deposits of food. He was sixty yards away and too many 
leaves in the way to see him, but after stealthily approach- 
ing half way, I canght a glimpse of a fox squirrel's tail 
disappearing round the body of the tree. Getting closer 
I threw a stick beyond the tree hoping to bring him 
round, but it didn't work. The noise of the falling stick 
started a gray one barking on the opposite side of a 
thicket, and he was answered by another a hundred 
yards away. This was getting interesting. There was 
no doubt about there being enough squirrels. Guided by 
the barking a very slow and quiet sneak was made 
through the thicket till a glimpse of a shaking, bushy 
tail was seen not over thirty yards away. The leaves 
were too thick to see anything else, but a shot at the tail 
brought down the whole squirrel. 
The shot stopped the other one's barking, and neither 
it nor the fox squirrel could be found, though looked for 
long and carefully. Further along in the woods, a gray 
ran up a small tree and jumped on to the body of a larger 
one, when a fox squirrel came round the^body of the tree, 
and then there was a race, the gray seemed in deadly 
fear of the other, and the other one determined to catch 
him. Through the tree tops, up one tree and down 
another, out on long limbs and into the next tree, round 
and round its trunk, out to the end of a limb and into 
another tree, they raced so fast that it looked more like 
flying than running. The race was ended by the gray 
taking a leap that the other would not venture. It was a 
level jump of fully twelve feet, and nothing but mortal 
terror would have given such desperate energy to the 
muscles that propelled that squirrel. Seeing he had dis- 
tanced his enemy, the gray climbed into a high fork and 
rested, while the fox lay out on the end of the limb 
where he gave up the chase and chattered ;his rage and 
disappointment. 
It now seempd about time for me to take a hand. The 
gray was in plain sight, but full 50yds. away, and there 
was a hole in the other tree that he would doubtless run 
into if any attempt was made to get nearer. The fox 
was 45yds. away, but would have to come toward me if 
he moved, so it was thought best to take a chance at the 
gray and then look out for the other one. When shot at 
the grav ran into the hole and the fox made a dash along 
the limb toward the body of the tree. A snap shot with 
the second barrel brought him. He fell just like he had 
been hit with a club, and never kicked. 
The next find was a gray that ran up a tall poplar 
stump quite near by, but he only showed a glimpse of 
himself as he jumped from the ground and ran up the 
other side. Now I'll stand still and perhaps he will peep 
round to see what became of me. Is that the. squirrel or 
a knot on the side of the stump about 30ft. high? 
There are so many leaves in the way I can't tell, but 
when I move my head to get a better view the thing dis- 
appears, and too late I know it was the squirrel, and chide 
mvself for not knowing at the first look at the stump 
that there were no knots on it. It is all right now though, 
for he has run up 20ft. and jumped on tr> a long beech 
limb and is in plain S'ght, running toward the body of 
the tree, making a beautiful running shot, which kills 
him very dead indeed. Then follows more strolling 
among the big trees, admiring their stately shafts and 
imagining what stories thev might tell if they could talk, 
till the game is almost forgotten; but there! was it a 
glimpse of a squirrel or a chipmunk or a bird at the root 
of that tree. I wait a minute and then a fox squirrel 
shows himself an instant on the side of thft tree 6ft. above 
the ground, and that is the last that is seen of him, for 
the tree is hollow. 
Only a little way beyond here one runs up to the lowest 
limb of a bushy beech, and sits on the limb close to thf 
body of the tree. H« is not thirty yards away, a,nd as I 
slowly raise the gun I think I'll just knock him right out 
of his hide; but when the gun cracked, he jumped to the 
ground and ran away through the underbrush, surprising 
me so I forgot to use the second barrel. It was one of the 
mysterious misses we all make sometimes. The shot had 
fairly skinned the little limb on which he sat, and half a 
dozen shot had glanced off the smooth beech bark of the 
tree in a direction that ought to have taken them through 
his body. I was now at the further end of the woods, and 
it was time to be hunting toward home; so the same 
ground was hunted over, but without a find till near 
where the two had evaded me soon after entering the 
woods. Here one ran up a tree, and presently showed a 
nose and pair of small ears, which were instantly with- 
drawn behind the tree. Shortly afterward he showed 
himself fully, all ready to jump and land at a hole in a 
tree six feet away; but a lucky snap shot got him. An-' 
other one showed up in a tree twenty feet beyond the first 
one, and was killed at once. Then another one barked, 
and I tried to stalk him. but did not get a sight of him. 
Another one barked, and I got a glimpse of it running 
over the treetop 1 ?, but lost it. 
When near the end of the woods a big fox squirrel came 
out of th« adjoining clover field, where he had doubtless 
been looking for grasshoppers, and seeing me took refuge 
in the nearest tall tree, and was discovered sticking his 
head out of a fork eightv feet above the ground A shot 
tumbled him out, but he caught on some limbs half way 
to the ground, and the second was used for safety, as the 
trap-shooters say. 
It was now nearly noon, and I had to carry a vigorous 
hunter's appetite one and a half miles, most of the way 
through open fields, to reach home and a hot dinner to 
stop the inward longings. There was one small piece of 
woods to go through, and I had the fortune to bag two 
fox squirrels in it, making one very long shot and one very 
easy one. The gun, the squirrels and my legs all got to 
feeling pretty heavy by the time home was reached, but 
they were trifles to the hunger that assailed me; but beef-, 
steak, coffee, fresh bread and butter, held down by half 
an apple pie smothered in cream, soon stopped all uneasi- 
ness. 
After dinner I skinned the squirrels in the following 
manner: Under the root of the tail make a cut through 
the skin about 2in. long, as though to take a strip about 
2in. wide off the animal's back, running lengthways with 
the body. Skin the under side of the tail back for an 
inch, and cut the bone in two, but do not cut off the skin 
of the tail. Put the tail on the ground, put a foot on it, 
take hold of the squirrel's hind legs and pull. The skin 
will tear diagonally across the body, coming clear round 
the bodv before it is stripped down to the fore legs. Take 
hold of the lower end of the skin which still covers the 
hind quarters, and pull till the body and hind legs are 
well uncovered. Now take hold of the skinned hind legs 
and pull till the skin is stripped from forelegs and head, 
entirely. Next, hang the squirrel by the skin which is 
still left on the hind feet, and finish the dressing. There 
will not be a hair left on the carcass except perhaps a few 
where the first cut was made, and the work can be done 
quicker than it can be described. 
Squirrels are not considered aristocratic game, but if 
drawn as soon as killed, and properly cooked, they are 
good enough for anybodv. They do not afford the 
pleasure of seeing a good dog work, like game birds, but 
they do afford opportunity for the slyest kind of still- 
hunting, and exercise one's eyes in close and patient look- 
ing, and no one can hunt them well without making a 
careful study of their habits. They are in season, too, 
when other game is not, and serve to tide over a dull 
time in the shooter's calendar. O. H. Hampton. 
Some Offhand Definitions. 
Jersetvtlle 111. — I suppose I am one of the jury you 
appeal to in your editorial of Sept. 22, "Guilty or not 
guilty," I answer "not guilty," and long mav he live to 
enjoy the sport that justly belongs to him. L. S. H. 
If not presuming too much, I would be pleased if you 
would define what a market- hunter is, what is a game 
hog, what is a pot-hunter. Suppose a party of hunters 
go into camp for a few days or weeks, and that they sell 
their surplus game to help pay the expenses of the trip; 
are they market-hunters? L. S. H, 
[A "market-hunter" is one who hunts for the purpose 
of selling his game. A "game hog" is one who kills an 
unreasonable amount of game. The term •'pot-hunter" 
appears to be used for "game hog" and "market-hunter." 
We should say that the party of hunters who sell surplus 
game could not be classed as market-hunters.] 
