^07 
sleep out niglits (or try to) just as "well as he eould. And of 
course after what I had said T was ohliiied to keep up my 
eutl. We rolled up our blankets, putting in them some 
"grub" for a couple of meals and a small tin pail in which 
to 'bile tea." Arthur slung on his pack, took his axe and 
ptBrt( d. Putting my pack on one shoulder and slinging my 
Winchester rifle (.45 90, model '93) on the other, I followed. 
We struck right out through the woods without any trail in 
a southwesterly course, following our compass and the sun, 
all the while keeping our eye peeled for a large, smooth- 
barked, white birch tree (which were as scarce as moose) 
from which to make a horn to call with. We succeeded in 
finding one, though it took us out of our course and used up 
precious time. After making and trying the horn, we con- 
sulted our compass and hastened along as fast as we could, 
for we wanted to reach the lake a couple of hours before 
dark in order to select a calling place, study the wind and al- 
low time for our scent to die out. As we were going through 
some thick underbrush I snagged a big hole in the bottom of 
my rubber boot, which was hard luck, for we had to cross a 
wet bog and to ford a stream, and the water felt as if it had 
just come from a glacier. Changing our course slightly 
toward the east, we left the woods and came out into a 
marsh, which grew more and more wet as we proceeded, 
and the trees smaller. We felt sure from these signs that 
we must be Bearing the long- looked -for lake. It was almost 
dark and we had no time to spare. "There it is!" said Ar- 
thur, pointing through a small clump of pines to the right. 
I looked and got my first ghmpse of Lake Indian Devil. It 
is a beautiful sheet of water, about one mile long by one- 
half wide, and in Ihe shape of a pair of spectacles. It is 
entirely surrounded by heavy timher, except at the narrow 
neck of land from which we approached it. This neck of 
land led to or ended in what was really an island, and was 
marshy and dotted over with pine trees and bunches of 
hardback. 
We proceeded carefully lest we should scare any game which 
might be in sight on the shores of the lake. It was now 
past sundown. The full moon was just rising over the tops 
of the trees. It was clear, not a cloud in the sky, frosty and 
almost a dead calm. We were stealing along, speaking only 
in whispers, keeping out of sight as much as possible, and 
trying to reach the island, thinking that would be a good 
place from which to call; for it commanded a pretty good 
view in two directions, and the wind would he in our favor. 
We had almost reached the island, when we were startled 
by a peculiar noise just off to our right. We both stopped 
and listened. "There it is again!" whispered Arthur; "it's 
a moose." We realized we could get no further, and it was 
hardly safe to move; but we managed to creep on our hands 
and knees just a few feet and crouched behind a little bunch 
of hardbacks. .Just as we got there we heard a tremendous 
splashing in the lake not over 200yds. oif, and we listened 
almost breathlessly to one of the most ferocious battles be- 
tween two mad bull moose which was ever fought by those 
huge and powerful brutes— the largest which roam on this 
continent. The uproar and confusion made by those two 
infuriated bull moose — those monarcbs of the forest — was 
something terrific, appalling, never to be forgotten. It was 
a battle apparently to the death. As the bulls rushed 
together to lock their great antlers the splashing of the water 
and clashing of their horns could be heard for miles on that 
still, moonlight night. Ob, what would I have given to be 
nearer! At last one was driven off or killed, and all was 
deathly still again. 
We waited a while and gave a low call; no answer. Then 
A. drew the horn through the hardbacks, making a sound 
similar to that which the moose makes with his antlers. 
Evidently the victor thought he heard another or a fresh 
challenge, for immediately he gave a grunt and started 
toward us. Then the excitement commenced again. He 
came straight on, grunting. I dropped on one knee to keep 
out of sight and to take steady aim. When he got to the 
edge of the woods, about 150yds. off, he stopped to listen 
and to peer out into the opening. Then he started off as if 
to circle us, when A gave a low call. He turned and came 
grunting out into the clearing, but too far off for a shot at 
night. He stood there fully three minutes (I thought it was 
three hours) and never made a sound or move except to 
swing his great head from side to side. We expected to see 
a big one, but Ihis fellow surprised us. He was immense. 
He really looked bigger than an elephant. It was a grand 
sight, those great antlers shining in the moonlight. I kept 
my rifle on him all the time, admiring him, hoping he would 
come nearer, and yet fearing I might not get him. We 
were afraid to change our cramped positions in the least, 
although I had one knee on the ground. That lump would . 
come in cur throats and we could hear each other breathe. 
The tension of the muscles holding the rifle so long in that 
posi'ion and the excitement of the mind became painful, so 
that it was a positive relief when the moose moved back into 
the woods out of sight, and gave us a chance to change our 
positions a little But he was no sooner out of sight than 1 
wished 1 had tired and taken my chance. I feared I should 
not see him again, and we both agreed that he was the big- 
gest fellow in the woods. We could still hear him grunting 
as he stalked through the timber. Arthur broke a couple of 
dry slicks and rasped the horn on the bushes. 
Immediately the moose gave a loud, savage grunt, and 
staittd for us. He was ready now for another fight, for he 
came i astur and grunted louder. A. crouched on the ground 
and I dropped on one knee again with my rifle to my shoulder, 
determined to fire this time if he came in sight again. On 
he came, neater and nearer, grunting and taking great strides. 
He was mad clear through, and evidently intended to make 
a charge upon us this time. The excitement was intense as 
we waited and listened and watched in the direciion from 
which the bull moose was coming with all our ears and eyes. 
As he broke out of the woods he looked bigger than ever, 
perhaps because he was so mad and full of fight 
On he came. I was in for it now, and must either get his 
pelt or he would have mine There was no shelter or tree 
to climb, and we had but one rifl.^ When within 50yds. he 
angled off a little, and fearing he might scent me I fired. 
He stopped and looked straight at me, as if undecided wheth- 
er to charge on me or not. As he stood there his great ant- 
lers cast his body in a shadow. 1 fired three times more as 
quickly as possible. At that he turned and started for the 
woods. I jumped to my feet, and gave him two more shots 
before he got out of sight. I felt sure I had given him a 
death shot, or he wouldn't have stopped in his mad charge, 
though firing at night at that distance is uncertain. 1 ex- 
pected to see him drop every minute, and when he disap- 
peared in the woods 1 was terribly disappointed. I feared I 
had lost the biggest moose of the forest. 
Soon after 1 thought I heard him breathing hard, and I 
whispered to Arthur, "He's my moose." We decided it was 
best not to try to follow him until daylight, for it would 
have been impossible in the dark woods, besides it was best 
to let him lie down and get stiff from his wounds. 
We went onto the island, which was heavily timbered, 
groped our way about at midnight, built a fire, thawed out> 
"b'iledmore tea," rolled up in our blankets and lay down on 
the ground beneath the big trees, and tried to get a little 
sleep. 
1 lay awake a long while watching the shadows in the 
woods made by the moon, the blue sky and the stars as they 
peeped down at me through the tall trees. At intervals all 
through the night the stillness was broken by a beaver strik- 
ing his tail in the water. It sounded like a clap of thunder. 
At last 1 fell asleep thinking of Indian devils and wondering 
if I should find my moose in the morning. As soon as it 
was daybreak we started. We soon found the trail— as we 
supposed — but no blood, which was a bad sign. We fol- 
lowed the trail round onto the other side of the lake, and 
there in the water about 100ft, from shore lay my moose, a 
portion of his body and one antler showing out of Water. 
We threw up our hats, shouted and danced, two of the hap- 
piest and proudest hunters you ever saw. After we had 
shook hands and danced again the serious question arose as 
to how we were to get those great antlers and scalp which 
were way out there so far from shore and in 4ft. of cold 
water. We made a raft, and by using it and wading we suc- 
ceeded in getting our prize to the edge of the lake, where we 
soon took off his scalp and antlers. We were not mistaken 
about his great size. I found that I had put three bullets 
into him, two of which were dead shots. How he managed 
to go as far as he did was a mystery. 
We had a lug, but finally succeeded in landing our prize 
in camp, where we had another jollification. You ought to 
have seen the boys' eyes stick out. They one and all agreed 
that it was not only one of the very largest, but also the 
finest moose head ever shot in New Brunswick. As I re- 
member the measurements, the antlers had a spread of over 
4i-ft., width of blades 13 to ISin., and nineteen or twenty 
points. Both antlers were perfect and well notched. The 
blades were finely curved. According to New Brunswick 
custom, since I had killed a bull moose to the call at night, I 
must sing a soner, which I did with great gusto amid shouts 
of applause. Since both the words and tune were original, 
1 will spare yeur patience, fearing that I have taxed it too 
much already. 
I also sh»t another moose and three caribou, but as Kip- 
ling or some one else says, that is another story. 
Col. C A. Hopkins and E. B. Holmes, Esq., of Brook- 
line, Mass., were with me. My guide was Mr. Arthur 
Pringle, of Stanley, N. B., who is one of the best moose 
callers and all-round guides in all New Brunswick. 
To the ambitious hunter who seeks fresh and practically 
unlimited and unknown hunting grounds, big moose and 
big caribou, I recommend the New Brunswick wilderness, 
although difficult of access. Hoping you will brave the 
hardships and be rewarded as I was, I remain yours truly, 
E. A. Slack. 
Bbookline, Mass., Dec. 1, 1396. 
MAINE GAME LAW VAGARIES. 
Boston, March 6. — One of the most peculiar pieces of 
game protective legislation asked for at Augusta, Me., this 
winter is a law to prevent the trapping of foxes. The pro- 
mulgators of the measure are the lovers of fox hunting 
with hounds, and there are a great many of them in that 
State. The measure is reported to have originated with 
the fox hunters of Lewiston, Auburn and Buckfield. In 
these cities and that town are some of the finest strains of 
the foxhound to be found in the country. The lovers of 
following them declare that under the present practice of 
trapping foxes are rapidly becoming extinct. One petition 
from Lewiston and Auburn alone has over 1,000 signers, 
praying that the trapping of foxes be prohibited by statute. 
The measure w^ill be bitterly opposed by the farmers out- 
side of the cities, who are also generally poultry raisers. 
They have always regarded foxes as "varmints" of the 
worst kind, and have welcomed any method of destruction 
that promised to lessen their numbers. There are many 
trappers of foxes, themselves farmers, living in the sparsely 
settled and mountainous districts. Some of these trappers 
secure large numbers of foxes every season, disposing of 
their furs in the spring. There are numerous records of 
trappers taking forty, fifty, and even up to seventy -five and 
eighty foxes in a season. The bounders look with dis- 
pleasure on such trapping, especially when going over the 
same ground with their dogs and not being able to start a 
single fox. Hence the bill to prevent trapping. The bill 
is being urged by the officers of the various fur clubs at 
Brunswick, Buckfield and other towns. 
The guide bill is being more and more opposed. It 
seems that the guides are really awakening to the features 
of the measure, 9,nd are more and more opposed to it. 
One sensible guide, writing from Andover, Me., says that 
he is opposed to having to take out a license, and can see no 
more reason why he should be obliged to do so than to 
cut wood or haul logs. He says he is wiUing to obe)^ the 
game laws, but is opposed to being registered or to being 
obliged to make out returns concerning the parties he 
guides and the sections he visits; says that the recording of 
the fish caught and the game taken would be giving the 
"whole thing away" for some other party to run over. He 
pronounces the whole measure the worst kind of a farce. 
As for wearing a badge, he says he wants nothing of the 
kind. If the commissioners insist on his wearing it he 
will wear it inside his bootleg. As for the guides making 
but retm-ns, he says that not many of them are capable of 
doing so. He mentions an instance of a horse trade of 
his own with a fellow guide, who wrote him a letter. It 
was as follows: "Der Sur: mi hos ast $10025; yu hav hem 
fur that." He was able to English the letter; the guide 
wanted $125 for the horse, but considering this too much 
he sent $100 and got the animal. 
But the guide license bill is really in a bad way, accord- 
ing to the latest reports. It has been before the Commit- 
tee on Fisheries and Game three times. The last time it 
comes out shorn of the badge; with the compulsory regis- 
tration made optional, though the Commission reserves 
the right to register any guides. It is also deprived of the 
clause calling for returns. Alas, for Mr. Carlton's great 
measure, if it must go through the Legislature in this way! 
The latest reports are that it is again tabled in the House. 
Still the legislative cranks never give up. A lawyer, 
who ought to know better, has just introduced into the 
Maine House of Representatives a bill which proposes to 
make bicyclists take out a license in that State, in order to 
have the same rights as other people on the streets. No 
bicycle shall enter upon any road, or highway without 
first having been licensed at an annual cost of $1. Ten 
cents of this money is to go to the town clerk and the bal- 
ance to be used in repairing the highways and in keepihg 
them in order. Why not make wheelbarrows pay a li- 
cense fee? Then there are carts and drays; why should 
they go untaxed? 
Another lawyer proposes to stop Sunday fishing. It has 
long been a peculiar feature of the Maine fish and game 
regulations that Sunday is a close time on shooting and. 
hunting, but nothing is said about fishing. The lawyer's 
new bill proposes to make Sunday a close time on all fish- 
ing. This bill may pass, but the peculiar feature of it will 
be that no attention will be paid to it, unless in case of pe- 
culiar spite or desire to injure. Commissioner Carlton is 
also out with the followihg proposition: "Whoever on the 
Lord's Day fires or discharges any rifle, shotgun, pistol ot' 
other firearm, except as an act of necessity, shall be punished 
by a tine of $10 and costs of prosecution for each offense;'* 
But the Seventh-Day Adventists are after this measure. 
They appeared at the h earing with considerable aggression; 
Two of them — one an elder and the other a layman- 
appeared with Bibles in their hands and cited holy writ 
to Mr. Carlton. It is reported that the bright Kerlnebec 
lawyer and fish and game commissioner, who is also a stu- 
dent of holy writ himself, found rather more than his 
match. The crowd which gathered at the hearing is said 
to have been decidedly entertained. The committee voted 
to report the bill, but with an amendment that it shall 
apply to cities and large towns only, lest it should be made 
illegal to fire a gun in the backwoods of Maine on Sunday. 
Special. 
IN UNHAPPY CUBA. 
Havana, Cuba, Feb. 20.— Editor Forest and Stream: It 
is a long time since 1 have written a line to Fokbst and 
Stream, though my interest in it and the wholesome sports 
which it advocates and represents has not lessened. It is a 
long time, too, since I have fired a gun at game of any kind, 
and the pleasure I now have with rod and gun is one of 
memory only — a memory associated with a past time, when 
peace reigned throughout this beautiful and fertile island, 
and every one sought happiness and prosperity in such ways 
as best pleased him. But the present unhappy condition of 
Cuba, where life and property have undergone such whole- 
sale destruction that desolation, grief and fear reign supreme, 
saddens the heart and destroys any zest for pleasure. Our 
domestic deer and quail are therefore httle hunted now. 
For many months there has been such a condition of 
affairs, one so sad that the inclination for sport with the gun 
is deadened, and so serious that one could not actually en- 
gage in sport even if so inclined. The horrors of war are 
visible everywhere. In a large part of the island, where 
once were peace and a flourishing people in a fertilo land, 
there are now sugar and tobacco plantations laid waste and 
deserted, families scattered or partly lost, costly machinery 
destroyed or rusting into worthlessness, homes and build- 
ings pillaged and given to the flames, and the cattle driven 
away or destroyed. And the destruction is constant and 
goes steadily on. It is now hut a large fighting ground, 
with all the horrors and losses which come from war. 
In the great war between the States the center of active 
warfare was so far removed from the people at large, and 
confined to such a small area as compared with the whole 
dominion, that the people witnessed but little of the active 
horrors of war. Most of them knew of war only as they 
read of it. Here we know of wax- as something at our very 
doors. 
So it is that snipe and ducks can come here to rest at the 
end of their winter migrations with a safety unknown to 
them in times of peace. The favorite haunts of the migra- 
tory birds, hence a favorite shooting ground of those who 
used the shotgun, have lost their glories in the greater glories 
and greater griefs of present war. 
Our winters are so mild and balmy that those from the 
States who spent their winter months here must now suffer 
a loss by being forced to remain at home. The range of the 
thermometer between November and March is from 70° to 
80° Fahr., with an occasional though rare drop to 60°. 
In reply to your inquiry concerning Ucense, the following 
is a summary of the matter: 
Our privileges in the legal use of firearms were subject to 
many restrictions, these" requiring the payment of a tax 
which added materially to the revenues of the Government, 
and consequently served indirectly to protect the game. 
There were six classes of license: one for the use of all kinds 
of arms not otherwise prohibited, one for the use of fire- 
arms for the defense of rural property, one for the 
use of a pistol or revolver for personal defense out- 
side of cities or villages, one for the use of pistol or re- 
volver for personal defense inside of cities or villages, one for 
the carrying of a fowling piece and to use it, and one for 
fishing in rivers, lagoons, tanks and pools. Those concern- 
ing pistols and revolvers are restricted to the use of Span- 
iards, while those concerning the carrying of fowling pieces 
and fishing are free to all, though an honorarium in the form 
of a piece of gold may add greatly in reducing any possible 
friction. All licenses may be revoked at any time. The 
Hcense fee permitting the carrying of a gun is $11 in gold, 
and for the privilege of shooting quail or deer on sight a sec- 
ond license must be secured at a cost of $11, making a total 
of $32 for the year. The shooter must secure a written per- 
mit of the landowner on whose land he desires to sheet, »r 
must be accompanied by some one who has such permit. 
Perhaps there may be a hope that in the near future the 
guns of war may be put by to rest, and the shotgun, whose 
use brings health and pleasure, may then again become the 
favorite weapon. Sportsman. 
"The Great West." 
A NOTE from Mr. Frank Henry Howe, a son of the author 
of the book "The Great West," tells us: "The book had a 
sale of more than 100,000 copies instead of 40,000. The 
author was the son of Gen. Hezekiah Howe, who pubhshed 
the first edition of Webster's Dictionary at New Haven, 
Conn ; and the first introduction to literature of Henry Howe 
was the carrying of the proof sheets of Webster's Dictionary 
from his father's printing office to the home of Noah Web- 
ster. Hemy Howe died at Columbus, Ohio, in 1893, at the 
age of seventy-eight. In Appleton's 'Biographical Cyclope- 
dia' can be found a sketch of his life; but a more complete 
sketch, with reminiscences of Henry Howe, can be found in 
the back part of the first volume of 'Historical Collections of 
Ohio,' which can be seen in the Chicago Public Library," 
