FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 19 r 1895. 
straight toward me was monster buck of gay color, 
surmounted t by k a .pair ,of horns as „large "as a tree cop. 
For an^instaut 1 was terrified. As he was almost upon 
me 1^ swung my gun coward che rushing mass and, 
closing my eyes, fired as he flew past. How eicher ot 
us escaped_descrucCion_will forever remain a mystery. " 
We^ineasured the distance between GUI's track and 
those^ made by the deer and found ic exactly six feet, 
and all admitted it to be^ratherjjlose quarters. 
On the auch two other members of 'tne party tracked a 
large black bear a few rods; and discussing the probable 
size of .the '•critter, " perhaps^ not over anxious to find 
bear, notjiaving lost any, then walked carelessly around 
a fallen Jree cop, when out scrambled L the bear trom 
almost under their feet and they haven't seen him 
since. „"lt's a wonder," said Nine, as we. walked over 
to the* place and found it only four steps from the bear's 
bed to the point where the boys ' ' charged backwards, ' ' 
"that he didn't gee both guns away from them. " 
Laughing over this characteristic dry remark of Dad, 
we returned to camp to prepare for home. All agree we 
have had a great time. If oeer nave been a trme wild 
we better^appreciate those^we^were fortunate enough to 
get, and arranging our game . before our cabin, we pre- 
pare f or^ a photograph by Louie, the cook, who, by the 
way^is^quice an artist. 
We" met Deputy Warden Brewster on the train home- 
ward and learn cnat 21 violators have been "called 
down in Lake County to the tune ot from $ 20 to $5U 
each. The moral is plain .- Leave the dogs at nome. 
Jim. 
TEXAS AND TH^SQUTHWEST. 
Protection Needed* 
Several gentlemen of San Antonio were discussing 
gun and rod matters a few evenings since, and during 
the conversation the "stop the sale of game" platform 
of Forest and Scream was freely aessicatea. The 
wholesale butchery ot canvasbacks and redheads on our 
coast was , touched upon and several plans were ushered 
into being having lor their, objects— first, the stoppage 
of the slaughter, and second, the prohibition of the ship- 
ping of game out of the State. ±3y securing a passage 
of a law at the hands of the incoming Legislature 
which^convenes L in ^Austin this winter, a great blow 
would.^be.^stmck at t the coast pot hunter of Texas He 
would-be. prohibitedjrom shipping his ill-gotten game, 
and not finding high toned patrons in paying quanticies 
withm the boundaries of che Lone Star State he would 
probably be driven to the desperate expedient of blow- 
ing up bladders m a snuff taotory, or to representing 
some rural „easc Texas district m the Legislature. There 
he would .find congenial fellows in tnose whose only 
legisiative»_effort m the past has been the exemption of 
his territory from the application of the game law 
One gentleman (a visitor trom Chicago ) related' how 
the opulent and aristocratic ( ?) sportsmen of the North 
and Jiiast produced a tickling sensation in their palates 
by ordering Texas ^canvasbacks for dinner. It struck 
some of us that if sufficient gentlemen of the JNorth 
having the preservation of the nigh toned birds of Texas 
would masticate on pincails, blue bills or some other 
plebeian^ bird, that perhaps the Texas canvasbacks and 
redheads jvomd be a drug on the market. Now as 
these gentlemen are at present howling themselves 'red 
in the 4 face about stopping the sale of game, would it 
not be wed for them to add another aphorism to their 
platform: "Stop the buying of game." Don't order 
canavsbacks and redheads wnen you are entertaining a 
friend. If he is of the right sort corned beef and cab- 
bage.wili satisfy his appetite ; besides, it is much more 
wholesome food. A little help on the part of the 
Northern epicure and a sharp stick from Texas might 
make the pot hunter abandon his nefarious occupation. 
A gentleman just in from the duck regions of the coast 
state that the natives don't kill mallards and teal, and 
turn up their very red noses at pintails and ' blue 
Williams. They are all after canvasbacks and red heads 
andjsvhere, they were plentiful a few years ago there are 
none to be had now. They pursue the birds as far as 
one canrgo by boat or any other means of locomotion, 
and yet\but lew of these contraband hunters are citizens 
of this State. They come from other States, bringing 
their ammunition and guns with them, pay not one 
cent toward supporting the Oovernruent, kin off ail our 
game and ship it out of the State. 
A Man Witn d Hatchet- 
I stopped to examine some quail I saw dangling like 
dish rags m front of an alleged game stand m San 
Antonio last week and found chat out of about a hun- 
dred birds not a single one had been killed by the gun 
They were all trapped birds, the lives of which had 
been^ mercilessly squeezed out of their pretty heads at 
the sacreligious hands of some mercenary cut-tnroat who 
ought to be hung. 
A thing in human shape stepped forward to inquire 
what I wanted. 1 inquired that 1 wanted to know 
where he bought the Dirds. He said they had been 
shipped, and wnen he was told they were trapped in 
violation of the S*ate law, he ^replied that it was just 
as bad tojshoot them as to trap them, and went on co 
tell me che law was wrong and that he was of course 
right. I disagreed with him energetically with a lot of 
choice Billingsate 1 picked up from Br 'er Hough during 
his last visit to Texas. The alleged man didn't do a 
thing but step back behind his counter and come at me 
with ji cheap and chippy chopper in the shape of a 
hatchet with which ne proceeded to enforce his 
argument. 
He didn't enforce much. I am on a stiU hunt for the 
trappers, and will surely get them^or stop their little 
game. 
Unfit for Food. 
__By tne way, a few words of warning to the public 
will not be amiss while we are under the nauseating 
head of quail trapping. 
A few^years ago, before J;he ,law prohibiting the trap- 
ping and netting of quail, there were thousands of live 
quail^ daily exhibited on the plazas of San Antonio 
and offered Jlor.sale. While wandering around on sev- 
eral occasions 1 noticed that a great many of the b rds 
had^died, some^of them by beating themselves against 
the sides of their ^prisons, but most of them from star- 
vation. When an order came in from a hotel or 
restaurant the murderer clutched the live birds in his 
villainous nanus and crushed the little heads until dead, 
then cue wnole mass was tied up m bunches, including 
the sick birds chac nad died, chose chac had starved, and 
then they were sent to the purchaser for the delecation 
of his guests. 
• 1 racher incline to the idea that the epicure of to-day 
will not relish a^ bird that died in a coop by being 
trainpled .down oy its companions. But still they eat 
tne ax, ana as a matter oi t tacc, nine -tenths of the Dirds 
ottered lor sale m San Antonio are birds thac have been 
trapped and a great proportion of them are unfit for food 
and positively injurious to neaith. 
Visiting Sportsmen. 
^Td did me a world of gooci to-day to skake hands with 
Mr. Willard Adams oi Chicago, who reached San 
Antonio last weex. He looks a nccie peaxed owing to the 
fetid Chicago air he nas been oreacning for cne past 
year. lnveryDody seems glad to see "JBig Adams" sonie- 
now. A very pieasanc nand, shake was exchanged 
between the writer and Ivir. leaning, also of Chicago, 
who is searching for ozone and quan. He'll find both 
in plenty before the winter's over. 
Deer on tne Islands. 
- A party of duck hunters just returned from the coast 
say tnat the shooting ror tne past cwo weeks nas been 
tne best chey ever saw. On che shell banks, a lew 
miles trom rtockport, tnousands of pintail, blue bills, 
canvasbacks and rediieads are feeding every day and 
cne evening flight is something immense. .During a 
short visit this party made to one of the neighboring 
islands they saw 19 deer m one herd and saw deer every 
day of their stay there. Texas .Field, 
BOSTON AND MAINE. 
^Boston, Jan. 12. — A Supreme court decision of a good 
deal of interest to those wno use the gun has just Deen 
handed down in Boston, it was an overruling of 
deiendant's exceptions in the case of Charles B. WhitCen 
oi ijynn vs. John Hartm of Boston. The piamciri 
brought action to recover for the loss of a leg. wnitten 
was shot .November 10 in the leg. The accident toox 
place in Maine. The defendant Hartm was nring at a 
partridge at the time and did not see Whitten, who was 
sitting down not nve leet off the traveled road or way. 
The ciaim sec up by the defendant's counsel, after tne 
adverse verdict was rendered at the trial at baleni, was 
that che plaincm was careless m leaving the road and 
sitting wnere he was liable to be shot. The Full .Bench 
holds that, on tne evidence the plaintiff was not 
negligent in leaving the road and sitting down to rest 
by tne roadside, and that it appears that he gave the 
defendant all cue warning thac he could when lie firsc 
saw chac he was about to be shot. The verdict must 
stand, and it gives the plaintiff $5, 545. This was a very 
costly partridge for che defendant. Some sportsmen and 
hunters are pleased witn the rendering of the Fun 
.Bench, and tmnk that the result upon other careless 
hunters will be good. On the other nand, prominent 
sportsmen claim tnat the ruling is unjust, as well as the 
verdict, lor the snooting was purely accidental, and will 
be jusc as likely to occur agau, "ino hunter m the 
world, " they say," would ever snoot m tne direction of 
a human being, if aware ot his presence. ' ' 
' ' Speaking of rulings, ' ' a Juewiscon, Me. , gentleman 
said tne otner day, "lerninas me oi an ottnand ruling 
of the late J ugde W. v lrgin of Maine. In his litecime 
he was one ox che legal lighcs of thac State and an 
ardent friend or fisn and game protection as well as a 
lover of the rod and rme. ' ' Tne Dewiston gentleman 
and anotner man were nshing in Weld Bond, close by 
the Judge's boat. "The other man looked a salmon but 
lost it, ' ' said he, ' ' the hook bearing out. Soon 1 had 
the same fish and landed him. The ocher fellow pointed 
out his hook mark and claimed the salmon. We agreed 
to leave it to the Judge, ne rendered the law unco us 
like this : ' Wild game Deiong to no one until it is m the 
possession or some one. X ou may snoot a deer, and if 
it runs around and lads at my leet and 1 put my hand 
on it, it's mine. The sainion belongs to tne L man who 
caught it. ' " 
Bickerel fishing continues to be in order, though the 
recent very cold weather has not been favorable. JU-ving 
Powers, A. L. Aldrion and VV. shapiey are just bacx 
from a pond somewhere m New Hampsnire and did not 
get many nsh, though they positively refuse to enlighten 
their iriends on the subject. They are not willing to 
even give tne name of the pond. They quiety refer in- 
quirers to ivir. Jtt. H. Jenkins, whom tney cald"Jink." 
They say tnat ne is telling the story. Now, Jink was 
not witn them, buc he cens a good story of their suc- 
cess. He says chac they obtained a "fishing board" of a 
countryman, or ' ' board for fishermen, "he is not sure 
which. Tney spread the board on the snow and began 
to fish,_and wnen they had fished awhile they counted 
and counted los mckerel, ah laid on the board. At this 
point the man wno iurnished the board declared there 
was ' ' some game ' ' ' and that he ' ' was not in it. ' ' They 
told him that the fish were game or game were fish and 
referred him co Cue laws oi INew Hampshire. Ac this 
che fellow wenc off in a huff, and the boys came baok 
to the .boston Chamber of Commerce witnout any fish. 
Jink declared that all chis happened ac Moosehead. 
INuw, since there is no Moosehead Lake in New Hamp- 
shire, and since there are no pickerel in Moosehead 
Lake m Maine, the conclusion is that Jink knows 
nothing about the fishing trip of the boys. But no one 
thinks of accusing him of teling a fish story, because he 
rarely goes nshing, besides being one of the Aldermen of 
his city, and having run for the Oreat and Uenerai 
Court. 
Claud H. Tarbox and Charlie Bailey have been on the 
Byfield pond again after pickerel. This time their old 
mend the^ Colonel was wich them. They were oil lor 
the pond at 5 o - clock m the morning. The Colonel had 
all his traps with him, as well as those of the other 
boys. The pickerel bit preccy Weil, but noc at_ the 
Colonel's hooks. He could not understand it. The 
others told him it was on account of "his age_and 
failing eyesight, ' ' a standing joke of the boys when the 
Colonel, who is a crack shot and a good fisherman, hap- 
pens to miss. He usually retorts with : ' ' Well, 1 taugfit 
you fellows ah you know about fishing or shooting, 
anyway. ' ' Special, 
m mid Jjfttf/ «gistiuig f 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Are They Grayling? 
* Under this heading Mr. B. A. Warner of Granville, 
N. Y. , sends me the following query : " A year ago last 
July I fished in a stream in this State (New Yorx) and 
caught fish that were before unknown to me. 1 will 
describe them to you and probably you can tell me what 
they are. From the descriptions I have read and the 
illustrations I have seen of the Michigan grayling, I 
should say that the fish I caught were very similar in 
shape and coloring. The general color is silvery white ; 
the back is shaded with grayish green; the belly a 
beautiful white ; the sides showing when fresh from the 
water a delicate ^iridescence. 
' ' The fish takes small trout flies eagerly and jig very 
quick in its movements and a good fighter. I found 
them in swift water and in pools at che foot of the 
rapids, the larger ones in the pools. I caught 80 in 
about two horns' fishing, weighing from two ounces to 
half a pound each. The. stream in question flows into a 
larger body of water, but I think the fish do not leave 
the stream and enter it, as I have fished there without 
catching any of them. Do you know of any fish answer- 
ing this description?" 
l should say positively that the fish were not grayling ; 
and 1 should guess that they were fall fish, "or cousin 
trout," as they are called m New Bugland, Semotilus 
buliaris. They are called also silver chub. I do not at 
this moment recall the iridescence on the sides, still 
the fall fish may possess it. Otherwise, so far as the 
description goes, the fish may be the fall fish. 
It is a spring spawning fish, and at spawning time 
the males develop crimson on the belly and lower fins. I 
should call the color of the back a steel blue. They rise 
to the fly and fight when hooked much like the brook 
trout. Hence the name ' ' cousin trout. ' ' They are 
found in trout brooks, also in ponds and lakes, and 
grow to over two pounds in weight. There are two 
reasons why the fisn mentioned were not graylings. 
The first is because there are none in this L State (which 
statement I will qualify later), and second, had they 
been grayling the first thing to strike the observer would 
be the great dorsal fin, colored like the dorsal fin of no 
other fish found in the fresh waters of this country, and 
the black markings on the sides. The best picture that 
I ever saw of the grayling is a photograph reproduced 
in Forest and Stream December 2a. The black markings 
in the photograph are faint and are not shown at all in 
the half tone. 
Mr. Mitchell, in sending me a photograph of the 
grayling, said : ' ' The curiously shaped and placed black 
spots do not show as plainly as I had hoped they would. 
The dorsal of the fish in iront shows up well, but the 
stripes on the ventrals do not appear at all. The iri- 
descence of the caudal and the beautiful tints of the 
body are, of course, impossible in a photograph. ' ' 
Here is a description of the coloring of two of the fins 
of the grayling: Ventral fins ornate, dusky, with 
diagonal rose colored lines ; dorsal with a black line along 
its base, then a rose colored one and then a blackish 
one, then rose colored, blackish and rose colored one, 
the last stripe continuing as a row of spots ; above these 
is a row of dusky green spots, then a row of minute ro.se 
colored spots, then a broad dusky area, the middle pasts 
of the fin tipped with rose. ' ' 
Once you fiave seen this fin of the "banner bearer" 
you will never mistake it for the fin of any other fish. 
I said there were no grayling in this State, and while 
I believe this to be absolutely true, to be historically 
correct, I will add that some years ago when Mr. Fred 
Mather, the present superintendent of the New York 
Fish Commission, maintained a hatchery and trout 
ponds at Honeoye Falls, Monroe County, INew York, he 
procured ' grayling eggs from Michigan and hatched 
them at hia hatchery. Later he allowed all the fish of 
the species to run down -into the outlet stream, aud 
within a few clays he has told me that he never heard of 
them afterwards. 
About Black Bass. 
Dr. Hinde's comments upon the habits of black bass 
at night in Forest and Stream of Jan. 5 I read with great 
interest, and while 1 cannot give him any positive 
evidence upon the subject, 1 will explain why 1 have 
come to believe that the small mouth black bass remains 
stationary during dark nights. 
For a number of years I fished for small mouth black 
bass in Back Bay of Lake Champlain, and one of the 
best fishing places at certain times was Wood's bar. 
This is a bar of white sand extending eastward from 
Wood's Island until it forms a point, and then suddenly 
breaks off into deep water. After a few days of wind 
from the north or south the water would ,pne up in one 
end or the other of the bay, and upon settling back to 
its normal condition the water made a strong current 
past the point of the bar, and that was the time to fish 
it. I fished it very early in the morning, always trying 
to anchor on the point of the bar before daylight. 
Black bass assume the color of the bottom over which 
they rest, and I think this is a good time and place to 
say that I was the first to publish this fact. 1 discov- 
ered it by accident, and by keeping my eyes open. 
Those who read angling works will find chis peculiarity 
of the bass mentioned in a book, but the author forgot 
to say that I told him about the discovery in a personal 
letter some years before his book was printed and at the 
same time informed him where I would make it public 
within a few days of the date of my letter, which 1 did. 
This is a trifling matter, but as it has been on my mind 
occasionally for years 1 thought 1 would unload it here. 
The first bass that we caught in the morning on the 
bar were veiy light colored, and in 1890 in Murray's 
"Lake Champlain and its Shores" I mentioned one 
morning's fishing thus : "Before the sun fairly appeared 
above the hills I noticed the light color of the bass, 
which was evidence that the fish, had been on the white 
sand all night. ' ' That was my belief then and it is the 
same now. After the light colored bass were caught 
and the sun came up, or, at least, after daylight, dark 
colored bass were caught, showing that_ the fish were 
coming in from deep water to feed. 1 did not attribute 
