Vtirj'i 30. 1895, 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
243 
Our little tent was pitched beside a pine that seemed to 
shelter the packs^and the rest of our outfit. Our five 
horses had excellent feed and a crystal stream ran just 
below us. How we hunted from this camp, killed some 
deer, had one half eaten up by a bear, watched for the 
bear, aidn't get the bear, didn't find the gold ledge we 
were looking for, etc., would spin this tale out too long, 
and besides we only started to give some "glimpses of 
camp life," not to write a hunting story iti detail. 
And now, kind reader, if the glimpses you have had 
please you, I am sure a good "square look" will delight 
you, and the only advice I shall offer in closing is to say, 
go, see for yourself. 
"Now, all may come who seek, afar from crowds. 
The grand in nature, for we now engage 
The potent 'genii' of this iron age, 
Fire, steam and steel and rise above the clouds!" 
Frank F. Friseie. 
Detroit, Mich. 
UNCLE RUSTY AND OLD SILE. 
A Backwoods Correspondence. 
BY F. BERKELEY SMITH. 
IN CAMP ON LITTLE OTTER CHEEK. 
I'm goin to answer your letter to-night 'cause Rube is 
goin' down in the mornin' with ivbat pelts we've got 
ready, and bring back some pervisions. I was mighty 
glad to hear from ye. I was wonderin' if it warn't about 
time for ye to talk a little to your ole pal. 
Ye see we git our mail when they is any, ev'ry month. 
"We uster get it ev'ry two weeks, but this all fired squall 
set in and froze ev'rything up s' tight that its more'n our 
mails wuth to get out to th' settlemint. I could git over 
thar oftener, snow er no snow, if I was able to be up an' 
about, but ever since I had that fall off 'en the lidge up 
on Spottid Mountin, its been all I could do to git round 
th' camp and help Ed tote wood. 
I was sorry that I couldn't git ov°r to the celebration, 
but I'd be dad dinged if I'd let Ed drug me on the sled, 
so I hed to gin it up. Must have had a time, ez the 
feller said, 
I kin jest git out now to fish on the pond. Ed he cuts 
the holes and sets th' tip ups and I kin watch 'em from 
camp, and when I see one rise up, I hobble out to it and 
yank thunder out of "em, 
Warnt that a snow we had? I tell ye I wuz afeard our 
ole shanty ed git snowed under sure, but Ed he kept 
pokin' it off 'um th' roof so now we kin git out and in 
preddy comfurbul. 
Say what your a ruin' lo, Ed Cummins is an almighty 
good man in th' woods, and he's preddy handy with trap- 
pin'. We've had better luck this winter than I ever see 
it since you and me was trappin' up on Shingle Shanty 
and round thar Goll; warn't that trappin' with a veng- 
ince? Ye see Ed's so powerful cunnin' thar aint nothin' 
he can't coax into his traps. He's goin' down to-morrer 
and shant be back for about four days and I doubt if he 
does then. I presume to say he'll git fuller'n er mink. 
* Wall, I swan, if Ed didn't go en fergittotake my letter 
to th' settlemint with him. Ye see he was so allfired sot 
on gittin' full that he come near leavin' the hull passell 
of hides He's gone^now, an' who do you think come along 
thro' th' notch bill, Charlie Mnnsey and Gus Skinner. 
Hope never to see th' back of my neck if it warn't jest 
az I'm tellin' ye. 
They come on their snow shoes haulin' a- sled with the 
awfullest moose on it you ever see. Goll, it warnt no 
earring they was draggin' nuther — weighed clus onto 
fifteen hundred, if he weighed a pound. 
It was about sundown when I heered the dangdest yel- 
lin' and cussin'. Wall, I couldn't do nothin' but yell and 
cuss back at 'em, cause I cudn't git aout and travil none, 
cause ra' leg is so sore. Preddy soon they come back up 
and said they was goin' thro' to the big shanty th' next 
day, and that all hands was goin' to drag out what pelts 
and ven'son they had to th' settlemint. Wall, what a 
time we had, I'd gin er doller to have had ye thar. 
Course they had some ole witc Ver-pee-sass reduched ez 
you say about one-half with alcohol. Wall, sir, we riz 
thunder an a shanty, no use talkin'. 
Bimeby, when we wus gettin' kinder quieted down, 
Gus, he begun to tell how him and Charlie Munsey got 
th' moose. Ye see they was gunimin off back on "Peaked 
Mountain," ez they hadn't harl any luck trappin', when 
all to once they came onto some tracks leadinoff towards 
th' north. They follied it till it went up thro' Wild Cat 
Holler, up thar whar you and me got that bark for our 
camp two years ago last fall. They had thar dog with 
'em, so Gus, he tuk th' haound and Charlie he clim up a 
big sprauce and waited. AVall, he said he waitei about 
half an hour when he heerd th' dog comin' down th' 
mount'in lickety split, and jest as th' moose come along, 
Charlie onhitched and dropped him in his tracks. Gus, 
he come up, and was so oxcited. he up and jumped onto 
th' moose. Wall, sir, that animile want dead jit, and 
off he started with Gus a-ridin' him. Gus says he rid 
that moose more'n a mile fore he could git a hoft on him 
and cut his throat. 
Wall, its might lonesome, ez th' feller said, alone in 
this here shanty, and I wisht ye was here, but I suppose 
your happy cause your whar you kin g't good lioker and 
see somebody once in a while. We'll come out long 
towards the fore part of April. Wall, I must git to skin- 
nin' what rats Ed has ketched. Old drive sends his 
respects. Yours faithful, £ile. 
North Dakota Notes. 
Fargo, N. D., March 5.— Our State Sportsmen's Asso- 
ciation prepared an excellent game bill, which was intro- 
duced and reportetl favorably, but it has gone the way of 
many others this session, "been indefinitely postponed." 
for the reason that "it is fully covered by the code." We 
hope such is the fact, but have reason to doubt it. 
The annual meeting of the South Dakota State Sports- 
men's Association will be held at Fargo Friday evening, 
June 14, 1895. 
Wild geese made their first appearance here this season 
on the 1st inst. Snow entirely gone, but rivers and lakes 
are not open. _ . . _ C. E. R. 
WOODS NOTES. 
I once caught a bear in a heavy steel trap by one of his 
fore feet, at the foot of the narrows in Mollychunkemunk 
Lake, one of the Rangeleys. I heard him scream two 
miles away and on going to the spot found he had climbed 
a crotched cedar and dropped down by the run, as they 
frequently do to try to free themselves from the trap. As 
he fell the trap caught in the crotch of the tree and he 
stretched down just far enough for his hind feet to touch 
a log which lay at the foot of the tree. I landed my boat 
within r a rod of the bear and was astonished to see the 
creature jump; he would spring from the log into the air 
from four to six feet, then drop back, then rebound, and 
each time give one of his unearthly yells that was a blood 
circulator — which pranks he kept up until shot dead. 
I had set a bear trap beside Sunday Pond, on the carry 
between Lake TJmbagog and Richardson, and a few clays 
after, a man coming up through the carry told me I had 
a bear in my trap. I at once started down, some five miles, 
to secure him. When nearing the spot where the trap 
was set I beard him holler and immediately after heard 
the trap jingle. When I got near enough to see the bear 
he was pounding the trap on a rock. It was on his fore 
foot, and he would lift the trap high in the air, then 
scream, then bring it down with great force on a large 
rock near by. He had just got caught, and would 
doubtless have released himself if I had not got to him 
just as I did. 
A trap set in a swamp near the pond in the river was 
carried away by a big bear. After searching several 
hours I discovered the bear in the top of a tall fir tree. 
He had climbed the tree, breaking the limbs as he went, 
and reaching the top had slid the trap over the top of 
the tree, then propping had hung up with some eight or 
ten feet of the tree sticking up above and through the 
trap. I had to cut the tree down to get the bear. 
I once set a log trap, or dead fall for a bear, a large 
trap, and when I went to tend it a Canada lynx lay dead 
in front of the trap some four feet away. He had touched 
the bait and jumped back just far enough for the heavy 
dead fall to hit him on the head and knock him away. 
Very few people, or even sportsmen, have seen the 
winter fpeding grounds and works of the moose, com- 
monly called a moose yard. 
1 n following up the late fall works or feeding of the 
moose, the hunter is guided entirely by the breakings of 
the buds of the twigs of small trees and bushes, with per- 
haps a little gnawing of the bark of a small willow or 
maple now and then. After following the signs a mile or 
two, it is easy to conjecture the mountain he is steering 
for, and it is quite probable that the moose have their 
winter yarding place decided upon in early fall, if not be- 
fore mid-summer. I believe the bulls that live on the 
mountains in early summer, isolated from the herd, 
while waiting for their antlers to harden, after they have 
attained their full length and are in the "velvet," as 
hunters term it, and very tender, they discover a place 
to five the next winter and lead the herd there the next 
fall. 
They commence at the foot of the mountain in early 
winter, working up the base and along the sides of the 
ridge, back and forth, and before the snow gets full 
winter depth, reach the top and commence working down 
the side of the mountain while the snows are deep, thus 
making it easier to break the deep snow, and peel or 
gnaw the bark from every small-sized tree in their way, 
preferring the willow, maple and moose wood, and mak- 
ing the woods look like new furniture, gnawing the bark 
high up, ten or twelve feet, by standing on their hind feet 
with their knees against the tree. 
No one can imagine the appearance of the fresh works 
of a moose yard in winter — their well trodden paths in 
the snow in every direction, and the bright new wood as 
far as the eye can reach — and the sensation of knowing 
that you are in the immediate vicinity of the largest 
game of the forest and perhaps within easy range. 
Three domestic heifers, two years old, are yarding this 
very winter in the Aroostook woods. They got wild dur- 
ing the summer by running at large in a pasture sur- 
rounded by the forest, and have been hunted with dog and 
gun by men trying to capture them, dead orabve, but are 
as wild as moose or deer. Their owners are awaiting 
deep snows. 
In war time, when raw furs were worth more than 
greenbacks, and mink skins were worth a ten-dollar bill, I 
was one day fishing through the ice in the west arm of 
Mollychunkemunk Lake, one of the coldest days in Feb- 
ruary. I espied a mink coming from the shore, as if to cross 
to the woods on the other side, about a quarter of a mile. 
I at once started to get in shore of him so as to cut him 
off, which I easily did. Then a race commenced between 
myself and the mink. I noticed he was making for a 
bunch of snow in the middle of the lake, and as I rapidly 
gained on him he made -a hole into the pile of snow as I 
came upon him. I thought I had him sure, and got. down 
on my knees to try and see him as he disappeared in the 
snow. At that moment the ice gave way and I went 
•headforemost into the frozen water. I soon scrambled 
out and found it was an air hole over a sunken rock. I 
started for my camp as fast as possible, about a half mile 
away, but before I reached the camp my clothes were 
frozen stiff and I had to lie down to kindle my fire. 
Bethel, Maine. J. G. Rich. 
Cape Cod Winter Notes. 
This storm-swept and ice-bound region has presented 
numer >us anomalies in its natural history during the 
present cold season. The king eider, for example, usually 
a winter resident,or at least a casual visitor, has not been 
observed at all at Woods Holl. Last year it was in mod- 
orate abundance. The common eider has been limited 
to a colony of about 500, which are still to be found in the 
"hole." 
Gunners have occasionally pushed flat-bottomed boats 
over the shore ice to leads of open water and have emptied 
a barrel or two into the flock, but then the sport was 
abruptly ended by the flight of the birds. Sheldrakes 
were plentiful for a week or ten days, when the first ice 
made its appe.irance. Whistlers were scarce; ve'yfew 
have been seen. Old squaws are as abundant as usual. 
A very unusual occurrence here was the killing of a red 
head in the ' 'hole' ' on Feb. 16. Another remarkable duck 
for the locality was a harlequin, which was killed Dec. 27, 
by Vinal N. Edwards, Jr., the first of its kind seen here. 
* Auks and murres, usually common winter birds at 
Woods Holl, having been conspiciously wanting. 
Finally, there has been a remarkable scarcity of hair 
seals. Only one has been seen in the vicinity and that is 
a little one which makes its appearance about once a 
week. The seals are absent from Buzzards Bay also, and 
their disappearance has caused considerable guessing as 
to its cause. As a rule they are plentiful in winter, and 
especially in cold winters. Perhaps the fish upon which 
they depend for a hvelihood have also been driven off or 
destroyed by the intense cold. 
Woods Holl, Mass., Feb. 23. T. H. B. 
Nests of Tree Frogs. 
At a recent meeting of the Zoological Society, of Lon- 
don, Dr. E. A. Goeldi described the breeding habits of 
certain tree frogs inhabiting the province, Rio Janeiro. 
One species builds a nest of mud on the shallow borders 
of ponds for the protection of its young while in the 
larval state. In another species the female carries the 
eggs upon her back and the larval changes take place 
within the egg. A third attaches its slimy egg mass to 
withered banana leaves, forming a nest in which the 
young remain until they reach the air-breathing stage of 
existence. 
The pouch intended to receive the eggs in some tree 
frogs is expanded so as to cover almost the entire back 
when filled. The young either leave the pouch as tad- 
poles or they may complete their metamorphosis within 
its protection. 
Divers in the North River. 
March 17, Editor Forest and Stream: — When crossing 
the ferry from Jersey City to Courtlandt street Saturday 
morning I was surprised to see a pair of divers in the 
river, which, from their size and appearance I took to be 
the red-necked grebe (Podiceps griseigena.x They were 
near the New York shore scarcely more than a gunshot 
from the boat, while another passed them about as close 
on the other side. The birds did not fly or seem much 
alarmed at their unusual surroundings, and attracted 
considerable attention and interest among those of the 
passengers who noticed them. J. R. Such.. 
Early Bird Notes. 
One solitary robin has been here all winter. Every day 
when the weather is fair he goes to a house in the Sixth 
ward and they feed him. 
Saw four (4) bluebirds Feb, 1, but no migratory robins 
until March 1. 
Wild geese reported going north March 8. 
J. Otis Fellows. 
mtie nt[d (§un. 
Sportsmen's Exposition. 
May 13 to 18. Madison Square Garden, New Yor&:.— First annual 
Sportsmen's Exposition. 
THE SUNNY SOUTH. VII. 
the pleasures oe the pirogue. 
Chicago, 111., March 9. — In one of his interesting 
articles from New Orleans, Mr. B, AVaters has written 
very feelingly about the experience of a novice in a 
pirogue, and at the time I enjoyed reading the story, for 
I had been there myself and could bear testimony to the 
accuracy of the description. Anyone who has ever 
mounted one of these 'Cajun craft will be ready to con- 
cede it the teeterishest, ticklishest, trembliest and gener- 
ally doggonedest boats ever contrived by a lay water-goer. 
The lazier a man is, the smaller he will mal e his boat. 
The birch bark of the Indian is the evolution of the easy- 
paddling idea deep-seated in the brain of one of the laziest 
of mortals. Now, the 'Cajun is the only mortal being 
lazier than an Indian, and thus the pirogue, the national 
and typical boat of the 'Cajun, is the only boat more 
teetery and ticklish than the birch bark. That it is 
harder to ride than a birch, anyone who has tried both 
will readily admit. A bare, round log is far easier to ride 
than a 'Cajun pirogue, which has qualities of its own in 
slithery slipperiness on the water. A man's first ride in 
a pirogue is much like his first attempt on the ski. He 
finds his mount po°sessed of a thousand malignant spirits 
eager to take a fall out of him. 
If there is a better paddler in the world than the Am- 
erican Indian, it is the American 'Cajun. Let the novice 
get into the craft of either one alone, and he will probably 
not be able to keep right side up. But let the designer of 
the craft get into it with him and the case is changed. 
The racing canoe without wind in her sails, the bicycle 
standing still, become the canoe under sail, stiff and 
steady, and the bicycle in firm and confident motion. 
The lazy man has learned the art of saving muscular 
tissue by balancing, and he has learned to keep his bal- 
ancing by the blade of his paddle in the water. Once in 
the pirogue, with a good paddler driving you on, and you 
are ready to swear that all your fears were unfounded. 
But let your 'Cajun stop to light a cigarette— which he 
is bound to do at least every three minutes— and the re- 
vulsion is immediate and abject. An ague seizes on the 
keel of the sassafras ship beneath you. It trembles and 
balances beneath you in evil ecstacy. You shiver and 
tremble with it, and try to balance against its freakish 
slips and shudders. With no support whatever, seated 
prone in the bottom of the knife-edged concern, with 
hands not daring to touch the gunwale, already almost 
submerged, you strain gigantically with all the muscles 
of your back, instead of lopping limply from side to side. 
The perspiration starts upon your brow. Your back 
aches with your effort to hold the boat erect. But still 
it shivers and trembles, as do the balances of one weigh- 
ing delicate things. In suspense you feel about to cry 
out, to beseech, to implore, to promise ransom. Then 
your 'Cajun, who has" nearly upset you by striking a 
match upon the gunwale, calmly sets the boat gliding 
again, and for three minutes you breathe, you chatter, 
you essay a feeble joke, till it all c< mes back again. For, 
