Oct. 16, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
313 
THE "PAINTED FISH." 
A SHOUT time ago I was examioing some coal deposits in 
eastern Colombia. It was a rough country, and after the 
manner of foreigners from the North, I was making remarks 
about the things that served as food in that isolated place. 
I employed a great, 'big, good-natured colored woman as 
cook, who came three miles each morniog in time lo get 
breakfast, and who was really distressed at my opinions of 
the resources of the country. She did her best, but that was 
not much, though she could not help it. She was always 
clean, however, and that was a great deal, more in fact than 
she ever realized. 
Oae day she said, "If we could get you a 'painted fish' 
{Piscado pintado) you would be pleased." 
They described a fish that reminded me very much of a 
large trout; never having heard of any such thing in tropical 
waters, 1 gave orders that one should be secured for me. I 
was told that they would not take the hook, but that when 
the water was low and clear, numbers of them could be seen 
lying along the banks of the riv^r, and that it was then easy 
lo spear them from theishore. 
For a few days there was no success, though the man 1 
sent insisted that he had seen them Jumping out of the water 
toward evening, but as the river was high he could not get 
any. Some days later a boy caught one. He immediately 
brought it to camp, and there was no denying that it looked 
like a trout, though quite different from any species with 
which I was acquainted, and it will probably prove to be a 
Hoplochiton. 
The upper part was dark brown with indistinct moltlingg, 
the colors shading much darker on the head. Along the 
sides tbe brown became lighter and gradually turned to a 
dirty white on the belly,, and the moltlings on the back faded 
out along the sides leaving small iodislfnct led and yellow 
irregular dots and blotcbes, some of which were oblong. 
They were clearer along the center of the flsh and were en- 
tirely lost along its lower portions. 
The tail and dorsal fin were indistinctly blotched like the 
upper parts of the fish, ;the pectoral fins were edged with a 
light muddy brown, andithe adipose fin was pronounced and 
rather large. 
Generally the appearance of the fiih was as if some taxi- 
dermist had taken a fine appearing brook trout aud flattened 
it a little till it had .something the shape of a percb, and had 
then filled up along the sides to make ii look heavy like a 
trout, and in doing this had blurred the colors and drawn 
out the spots a little, and then, to make it look more natural, 
had covered the fish with a dull varnish, and toned it all 
down to such an extent that the original colors could scarcely 
be seen. 
^ My good old cook said feat 1 wou'd like a painted fish, and 
80 1 did, excepting that 1 felt somewhat guilty, and would 
mu h rather have preserved it for a sptcimen; but this 
seemed impossible, and iu fact, I had but little choice in the 
matter, because while I was called away to examine some 
specimens of coal that were brought in" just then, the fish 
was cleaned and cooked, and after that there was nothing to 
do bat eat It. 
The weight was perhaps 4lbs., and the fish was a substan- 
tial addition to the dinner of four men. It was very fat; 
the flesh was solid and qiiite pink, almost the color of fresh 
canned salmon, and it had a rich, gamy flavor that was cer- 
tainly very agreeable. 
The exact spot where tbis fish was taken is in the Rio 
Kincheria at a point about fifty miles back of the city of 
Rio Hacha, near the mouth of the Rio Cerrojon, in Co- 
lombia 
These rivers fl )W through a broa5, deep valley, between 
ranges of high mountains. At the point where tbe fish was 
taken the climate is very hot, and the valley but little above 
sea level; just such water as we have at numerous places in 
OUT Southern Slates, where this fish, if introduced, would 
probably bscome an important acquisition to the food supply, 
as the natives claim that it grows to 10 and even 201bs., and 
they all spoke of the specimen that was secured for me as a 
very small one and scarcely worth cooking. It may be well 
to remember, however, that the Spanish American alwajs 
allows a liberal siz2 to anythipg he may attempt to describe, 
rHAKCis 0 . Nicholas 
A TRIBUTE TO NESSMUK. 
The following letter expre§8<?3 such a genuine appreciation 
of Nessmuk that, with the writer's consent, it is given here 
that others may share with Mr. Mather its reading : 
Pj^YAroxjTB, Mass., Sept. 2Q.~Dear Mr. Mather: I have 
just finished your article on Nessmuk, in Fokest amd 
Stream, which has j ist reached me off here in the woo s, 
and I roll over on my blankets to thank you for a new edi- 
tion to the literature of that good and great man. 
Good — Because he could enjoy nature in its own haunts, 
and alone, even though he got "look" by the "sparrow cop" 
for camping in Central Piirk. (I only wonder that any cap- 
lain could have locked him up instead of taking him to bis 
home and heart.) 
1 hold that no bid man could so live. He would have died 
of shame or fled to the thickets of sin, lost in some city. 
Great — Because he has cheered many a man's huarl in its 
sorrow (mine, among others), and caused the smile to wreath 
around the lips which had drawn into those lines which be- 
token inward tears; and anon he has caused the tears to start 
by the wonderful eloquence of Ihose songs of the woods 
which only Nessmuk could write 
I have known him these many years, and vet I never saw 
him. He was one of those whom you would picture as you 
bang upon and reread the words that flowed from his pen. 
And as I lay here on this quiet Sunday with the broad ex- 
panse of the lake stretching out before the open fly of my 
tent, I seemed tojhear tne "Da-whoop," and to see (he 
shadowy form of the Major fleeing to the rescue of a ship- 
wrecked brother of the wood and stream. It was a touch of 
nature in nature's home. 
I do not know that you were ever here in this old colonial 
town, and if not, you cannot appreciate its wondrous charms. 
Though settled since 1620, when our Pilgrim forefathers set 
foot on the seaside boulder (also a pilgrim on the great ship 
lee) a short journey of three or four miles puts you in the 
woods— not primeval forest, by a long shot, but still woods 
— wliich are dotted with lakes and ponds, most of- which are 
framed in green boughs and sandy shores, where the bass 
doth love to jump and a few trout still live. 
With my lOft. Saranac canoe 1 can carry to the most of 
the ponds, for you know they will float in a heavy dew, and 
if I can't get bass I can pot-fish for perch, and more than 
that I can get health and vigor. 
But 1 think you must be weary of my rilf-raff, so I will 
shut up, and, as the after-dinner orator says, "Once more I 
thank you." Fhank C. Bates. 
Mmnel 
FIXTURES. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Nov. 9H —Metropolitan Kennel Club's second annual show, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 
FIELD TEIALS. 
Oct. 25.— Brunswick Fur Club's ninth annual trials, Birre, Mass. 
Nov. 1.— Dixie Red Fox Club's third annual meet. Waverly, Miss. 
Nov. 1.— New England Beagle Club's trials, Oxford, Mass, 
Nov. 2.— Monongaliels Valley Game and Fish Protective Associ- 
ation's trials, Greene county. Pa. 
Nov. 2 — Hoosier B^a^rle Club's inaugural trials, Indiana. 
Nov. 8.— Union Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. 9.— Central Beadle Club's trial*. Sl;arpsburg. Pa. 
Nov. 9 —Peninsular Field Trial Club's trials, L'^ariiineton, Ont. 
Nov. 15.— E F. T. Club's trials, Newton, N. C, 
Nov. 16.— Interna* ional Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials, 
Chatham, Ont. 
Nov. 22.— U. 8. F. T. Club's autuntin trials, Newton, N. C. 
1898. 
Jan. 10.— U. S. F. T Club's winter trials, West Point, Misa. 
■'an. 17.— Continental F. T. Club's trials. New Albany, Misa, 
Jan. 84 —Pacific Coast Field Trial Club s trials, Bakersfleld, CaJ. 
SCHOOLING THE DOG.— XV. 
Backing, backsetting and backstanding are terms which 
denote the ace of standing rigidly, as a properly trained dog 
does when he observes that his fellow is pointing. The back- 
ing dog assumes much the same attitude when backing that 
he does when pointing, though in most instances there is 
less rigidity and intensity in it. Bat however spirited and 
intense may be a dog's attitude when he has the enthusiasm 
of youth and the irrepre.'ssible fondne.s8 for pursuing birds, 
in time his backing attitude becomes less spirited and more 
perfunctory. He learns that its purposes, as enforced by the 
trainer, are to repress him; to keep him out of the way of the 
pointing dbg; to set him apart, for the time beinsr, as a use- 
less factor in the sport. The act of backing, which the dog 
naturally began with a purpose, he persists in from educa- 
tion; but the spirit which heshowed in it when he had a pur- 
pose to dash in and kill, is absent when he backs merely as a 
perfunctory act. 
Many years aeo the writer evoked a lengthy public discus- 
sion by publishing and maintaining that the act of backing 
was not instinctive, but was an act resulting from intelligent 
observation. It was maintained, as again.'tt the theory of in- 
telligence, that the dog, first pointing the birds instinctively 
that a man might shoot them, also backed instinctively so 
that he would not interfere with the dog which was point- 
ing. In support of this contention, the fact that young 
puppies would back each other in the kennel yard, when 
pointing and chasing sparrows and other small birds, was 
adduced as positive proof of the instinctive origin of the act 
of backing. In fact, so much was ascribed to instinct by 
way of explaining, the dog's acts, that one had reason to 
wonder why the dog has brains at all, and having them, why 
he uses them so little. 
There are many acts which young puppies learn very read- 
ily on opportunity. They have an instinctive impulse to 
pursue their prey, and in methods of successful pursuit they 
are astoni.shingly precocious. The puppy, seeing a sparrow 
on the ground hopping about, runs at full speed to seize it; 
it flies and he gives full chase, sometimes giving tongue 
merrily. He after a few failures soon learns, if he has any 
sense, that the bird can fly, and that in open pursuit of it, 
wherein he trusts solely to his heels, a capture ia impossible. 
He soon learns further, that by sneaking quietly up on the 
birds his chances of getting within a better striking distance 
are many times increased. 
Iu drawing on the little birds by sight, the puppy employs 
much the same strategic efforts that, in his more mature and 
serious efforts in seeking game birds, he employs in his ef- 
forts to capture by the use of bis nose. The one is the crude 
effort of inexperience; the other is the skillful effort which 
comes from practica and knowledge, though both are from 
the original instinctive impulse to seek birds for food. In 
the pursuit of fur, the setter or pointer draws on, say the 
rabbit, in much the same manner that he does on bird.s, but 
with less caution. When the rabbit is jumped, the dog'pur- 
sues hotly, giving tongue merrily the while. On birds he is 
silent, as he needs must be; on fur he gives tongue. In his 
individual attempts be has now been considered. 
Let us consider him now as he works with his fellows. He 
prefers to work with one or more of his kind. He prefers to 
hunt in packs. The joint efforts are far more certain of suc- 
cess than are the efforts of the lone individual. Thus, dogs 
wild or domestic, prefer to hunt with each other. Thev 
learn to coordinate their efforts in a masterly manner to ac- 
complish the common purpose to capture. The timber wolf 
hunting in twos or more, if need be, takes distinct parts 
in the struggle to capture. One or two will make a sham 
attack on a cow, while another one seizes and kills her mo- 
mentarily unguarded calf, Coyotes will station themselves 
with excellent judgment in such a manner that as one pur- 
sues the running antelope it passes by the others in turn 
and each in turn then relieves the pursuer in the running, so 
that the antelope is running constantly against a relay of 
wolves. 
The greyhound in pursuing animals as swift or swifter than 
itself, prefers to run in company, and they invariably learn to 
"run cimning;" that is to say, when one goes forward at full 
speed to press the fleeing jack rabbit or antelope, etc., his 
fellow is running less swiftly behind; but the moment the 
prey is turned, the hindmost greyhound da.shes forward 
at top speed across the angle thus formed, and, to effect an- 
other turn, he presses his prey to the utmost. Every time a 
turn is made, the prey runs on two sides of the triangle, while 
the hindmost dog runs on but one. This is a suflB.cient 
advantage in favor of the dogs to result in the end in their 
success. 
The country dog, whenever it is possible, has some neigh- 
boring dog with which he is on friendly terms, and which he 
always takes with him on his prowling expeditions through 
the woods and fields. If they learn that such self-hunting 
ia forbidden, they sneak away in the most silent manner 
taking a time for their leaving when they are free from ob- 
servation. If they approach a brush pile where there is a 
probability of springing a rabbit, do they go to ib together'^ 
They never hunt that way after they become educated. 
One goes forward to jump the rabbit, wrhile the other takes 
a position to seize it if he can; or, failing that, he may in- 
tercept or turn it with advantage toward his companion. 
At least, the rabbit does not escape unobserved, as some- 
times happens when green dogs are in pursuit. 
All the acts of dogs when hunting together have a direct 
reference to the common purpose, the capture. These acts 
are acquired by experience. That they are sometimes learned 
very quickly proves none the less that they are from experi 
ence, and that in no other way can they be acquired. Thus 
the pointer or setter jiuppies take distinct parts in pursuit 
for the common advantage in their effort at making a suc- 
cessful capture. Hence, when one puppy draws stealthily 
and closely on the birds, pointing them, and the other puppy 
stealthily draws behind or to one side, the latter is seeking 
for a position to make a more successful effort if his leader 
should fail when he makes his final spring to capture. 
"But," say those who hold that the act Is instinctive ''we 
have seen puppies back each other in their warfare on spar 
TOWS the first time one of their number pointed." It doe 
not follow that the first time the owner or others saw th - 
point in the kennel yard, that such was the first point. 
There might have been dozens that they never saw. When 
the puppies surround a barnyard fowl, on an evil day for the 
latter, the success of backing and running cunning are pal- 
pably in evidence. 
It should be kept in mind that birds are not the sole prey 
of the setter or pointer. Rabbits he pursues with greater 
delight-and fierceness, and his unaided efforts to catch birds 
are similar to those he employs in catching rabbits. One dog 
goes forward to spring the game; the other uses his best 
judgment to secure a position where he can either seize the 
prey or turn it to his fellow. It is in method analogous to 
the running cunning of the greyhound, and yet none of these 
acts have any reference to a man with a gun, although it is 
still held by some writers that the act of pointing is instinct- 
ive and has reference to the success of a man with a gun, 
notwithstanding that the dog will point if there is no man 
present, or present with or without a gun. 
That the act of backing has a direct reference to the cap- 
ture of prey, is conclusively proven by the fact that an intel- 
ligent oog, even when most thoroughly trained, will refuse 
to back a dog which false points to an "unreasonable extent. 
He learns that the acts which commonly indicate the pres- 
ence and the pursuit of game are* false, and as there is noth- 
ing to be pursued or captured so there is no need for prepara- 
tion to seize or pursue. 
The trainer, in perfecting the act, simply takes this natural 
inclination of the dog to assist his leader, and so disciplines 
It that the dog makes the stop, the back, when he sees his 
leader pointing. Thus the act which the hindmost dog 
naturally used for interfering to the best advantage, the 
trainer perverts and so cultivates that the dog is not per- 
mitted to interfere at all. 
The dog theoretically is trained to stand wherever he may 
be at the moment he catches sight of the pointing dog, but 
in practice his natural impulse is so great to be in a com- 
manding position when the game springs, that most dogs 
will gallop up to within a few yards of the pointing dog, and 
constant care is necessary to maintain the proper degree of 
stanchness, there being a constant tendency to break its re- 
quirements. 
While there is a certain uniformity in the natural procliv- 
ity of dogs to point as a means of securing their prey with 
greater certainty, there is far from being the same uniform- 
ity in the proclivity to back. The point has a direct refer- 
ence to the seizure of the prey, and the pointing dog, there- 
fore, has a direct interest in the effort. The backing dog is 
suppressing his own inclination, and is taking a subordinate 
and less profitable position, for if the pointing dog be suc- 
cessful in his effort, he may eat the prey without a division 
of it with his companion. 
In practical field work the only material advantage of 
backing is that it prevents interference with the pointing 
dog. In such instance as a man owns but one dog and 
shoots alone, it is not of the slightest importance whether 
his dog will back or not. But when his dog hunts with an- 
other, it is of great importance that he should back. Noth- 
ing will so thoroughly spoil all sport as a dog which, refus- 
ing to back, either goes ahead and steals the point or flushes 
the birds. Some good dogs behave very badly when work- 
ing with a dog which will not back. They will nit submit 
to have their points stolen, and either go ahead and flush 
to prevent any poiilt at all, or behave so resentfully or jeal- 
ously that the standard of work is seriously lowered. Back- 
ing well and stanchly is an accomplishment which puts a 
needed finish to the performance of a dog which works in 
company, and besides being pleasing to the eye adds to the 
pleasure of the shooter and the success of the gun. When a 
dog is pointing no other dog should be permitted to interfere 
with him. All efforts at capture then appertain to the 
shooter. 
_ Until a dog has learned the purposes of pointing, he exhib- 
its no inclination to back. He has but imperfect oppor- 
tunities to learn its purposes. As in actual field work, the 
pointing dog is never voluntarily permitted to flush if the 
shooter can prevent it; there is not, to the unschooled dog 
the ocular evidence of the pointing dog's intention that there 
would be if he were working alone with his fellow nor is 
there the need of backing when dogs work to the gun that 
there is when they work alone, this, of course, from the dog's 
point of view. Out of a certain number of dogs, a few will 
learn to back readily, most of them will need to be taught 
and others will refuse to back at all. It is an act which the 
dog cannot be forced to do if he refuses. The only substi- 
tute is to teach him to stop to order or signal promptly, so 
tbat when he goes toward the pointing dog he may be 
dropped; or if he is particularly self-willed, he may be 
whipped every time he runs in on a pointing dog, and in 
time he will learn that a pointing dog is something to be 
avoided. Thus, if he cannot be taught to back, he can be 
broken from running in. There are some things which he 
cannot be forced to do, but there is no act which he cannot 
be broken from doing. 
_ If the dog have an intense inclination to steal the point ifc 
IS better to work him with a check cord, and punish him 
with the whip every time that he runs in and flushes. If 
there are several opportunities to secure points on scattered 
birds, tie him to a tree where he can see his brace mate 
point. If he howls and struggles punish him till he desists 
He must be disciplined to self-restraint, and it is a waste of 
time to trust to his sense of propriety to attain it. If the dog 
is timid and lacking in confidence, quite a different policy 
ust be adopted. The dog must be treated kindly and in- 
d -,tedinto the accomplishment by plenty of opportunity 
aau showing him kindly and gently. As the trainer goes 
f jrsv rd to fiush he discourages the dog from following 
forcin him to remain back, giving his attention to the 
dogs specially, and not to the birds. At this stage a serious 
disadvantage to the amateur trainer is his irrepressible in- 
clination to shoot first and train afterward, whereas properly 
it should be the revei'se. 
It is better to have an old, steady dog when schooling the 
puppies to back. When he points, attract the attention of 
the puppy with as little noise as may be, have him see the 
pointing dog, and then with exaggerated caution of move- 
ment impre.8s on him how grave is the moment and the 
event. When the pointing dog engages his interest, walk 
forward to flush. If the puppy attempt to follow, caution 
him; do everything slowly and cautiously. The puppy will 
catch the seriousness of the matter. If he attempt to follow 
further, take him back. He must understand that he is not 
to go forward when his mate ia pointing. After the birds 
are flushed and a kill is made, the puppy will observe the 
purpose of all the acts, and If he have any powers of dis- 
crimination, he will learn to take his proper part whether 
on point or back. It is necessary sometimes to repeat the 
lesson through many days or weeks. He may seem to have 
no interest in backing, and suddenly some day he will be as- 
tonished by unexpectedly coming upon his mate on point, 
and may instantly back well. It is a branch iu which the 
trainer must use tact and patience. Nothing is gained 
by hurry, nor is anything gained bv punishing a 
dog in an attempt to make him back. Punishment 
will deter him from running in on a pointing dog, but it 
will not make him back. However, by persistently attempt- 
ing to enforce the act, the cases which will result in total 
failure will be few; on the other hand, the cases which will 
result in failure if but a half-hearted fitful attempt is made 
will be many. _ The only art in this is persistency, good com- 
mon sense, patience and a knowledge of what is correct for 
the dog to do. Let the trainer always keep in mind that if 
the dog does not know what the trainer wants done it is 
impossible that he should do it. If he does not understand 
his trainer the latter should endeavor to improve his metboda 
of communicating knowledge. 
