Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Terms, $4 A Year. 10 CtS. a Copy. 
Six Months, $2. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1897, 
I 
VOL. XLIX.— No. 23. 
No. 846 Broadway, New Tobk. 
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And birds of ev'ry note, and ev'r}^ wing, 
Their loves responsive thro' the branches sing- 
In sweet vibrations thrilling o'er the skies. 
High poised in air, the lark his warbling tfies; 
The swan, slow sailing o'er the crystal lake. 
Tunes his melodious note; from ev'ry brake 
The glowing strain the nightingale returns. 
And, in the bowers of love, the turtle mourns. 
Pleas'd to behold his branching horns appear. 
O'er the bright fountain bends the fearless deer; 
The hare starts trembling from the bushy shade. 
And, swiftly circling, crosses oft the glade. 
Where from the rocks the budding founts distil, 
The milk-white lambs, come bleating down the hill ; 
The dappled heifer seeks the vales below. 
And from the thicket springs the bounding doe. 
To his lov'd nest, on fondly flutt'ring wings, 
In chirping bill the little songster brings 
The' food untasted; transport thrills his breast; 
'Tis nature's touch, 'tis instinct's heav'n-hke feast. 
Thus bower and lawn were deck'd with Eden's flowers. 
And song and joy imparadis'd the bowers. 
The Lusiad. 
TSE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Theee is a growing sentiment that whenever a United 
States Fish Commissioner shall be appointed to succeed 
the present incumbent, his selection shall be such as to 
command respect for the man himself and for the oflSce, 
and such as shall restore the Commission to its former 
place in popular esteem. This can be done only by the 
appointment of a Commissioner fit for the position be- 
cause qualified to administer its aiTairs. The work of the 
Commission is public business; it ought to be conducted on 
business principles, intelligentlj'^ and efficiently; and the 
person to whom it is intrusted should be chosen for his 
capacity to do this, precisely as a selection would be made 
for the management of any private business. The Presi- 
dent's one care should be to fill the position with the most 
capable man he can find for it. 
The place is a large one, and has concern with large 
interests; it is no place for a tyro, nor for a small man, or 
one untried or ignorant. Special knowledge is demanded, 
with training and experience in this particular field. The 
Commissioner must have attainments in the science and 
art of fishculture — attainments which can come only of 
practical experience in fishcultural work, and of experi- 
ence most valuable if acquired in the field of the National 
Commission itself. This practical personal knowledge of 
fishculture is an absolutely essential qualification of a com- 
petent head for the Fish Commission. It is not enough 
that, as now, his subordinates in the Commission may 
have knowledge, in a measure to make up for his own lack 
of it. No blundering ignoramus, though he be a martinet, 
can command from his staff confidence and respect, and 
without them there must always be demoralization like 
that which now prevails. 
In addition to his knowledge and skill in fishculture, the 
Commissioner must have executive abi.ity and proved 
business capacity. The responsibilities of his office and 
the nature of his duties demand this. His record in fish- 
culture or other work should attest his possession of the 
administrative faculty, show him capable to manage men 
and aff'airs, and give assurance that the complex work of 
the Commission shall be carried on in the best ways and 
with the best results. 
The head of the National Commission, it goes without 
saying, should represent the fishcultural and fishing inter- 
ests of the country; should have a thorough knowledge of 
the commercial fisheries, their requirements and the rela- 
tion of the Fish Commission to them; and should enjoy 
the confidence, respect and support of commercial fisher- 
men. 
The appointment of a Fish Commissioner is one which, 
we have the strongest confidence to believe the President 
recognizes, cannot for a moment be considered in any 
political relation, except as a part of that good politics 
which has regard for the highest public interest. To put 
the right man in the right place, when the position is one 
of such importance as this, means to command popular ap- 
proval. By the selection of a man having such qualifica- 
tions as we have briefly outlined for the office of the 
United States Fish Commissioner, Mr. McKinley has an 
opportunity of adding a most creditable appointment to 
the record of his administration. 
THE F0EE81 RESERVATIONS. 
It is but little more than half a year since a state of high 
excitement prevailed over a considerable portion of the 
country concerning the establishment of certain forest 
reservations in accordance with law. At that time the 
Forest and Stream advised patience, and gave reasons for 
believing that the action whicli had been recommended 
by the National Forestry Commission would cause injury 
neither to the West in general, nor to any class of its 
inhabitants. "VVe then said, "The facts are all in favor of 
wise recommendations by a Commission made up of such 
men as is this one, and we venture to predict with confi- 
dence that in a few months those persons who are now 
making the most outcry about the injury likely to be done 
will be the most enthusiastic in favor of the plan which 
the Commission shall recommend." 
This prediction has been fulfilled in a way that is fairly 
startling. Since last March, when it was made, there 
has been an absolute and widespread revolution in the 
public sentiment of the West. People have had time to 
think about the subject and to realize what the effect of 
forest preservation will be on the diffierent localities inter- 
ested. 
A recent investigation of the state of public opinion over 
a very large portion of the West shows that where a short 
half year ago entire communities were bitterly opposed to 
the establishment of the forest reserves, the same commu- 
nities are now heartily in favor of such establishment. 
Where there was then bitter hostility, there is now cordial 
friendliness. The country covered by this investiga- 
tion includes the Priest Eiver. and Olympic reservations, 
both sides of the Cascade reservation, the cities of Seattle 
and Spokane, both sides of the Flathead reservation, the 
Lewis and Clark reservation, and the Black Hills reser- 
vation. 
The opposition which showed itself last spring had its 
origin in the belief that their property was to be taken 
away from the people living in and about the reservations. 
The miners, the prospectors, the ranchmen and the cattle- 
men believed that they were to be deprived of what they 
had and what they hoped for, and an epidemic of excite- 
ment and panic swept over a region far wider than that 
covered by the reservations. At the same time it is to be 
noted that in some communities individuals and journals 
were found who were able to resist this excitement and 
to take a common-sense view of the matter in hand. 
Notable among these newspapers was the Portland 
Oregonian, a journal which always commands respect. 
We pointed out to the alarmists East and West that this 
excitement was unnecessary; that when the Commission 
announced its plan it would certainly recommend that 
agricultural lands lying within the reservations should be 
excepted, so that the settler who might wish to do so 
could take up a claim of arable land there, just as he might 
have done before the reservations were established; that 
miners would be allowed to prospect and to mine on the 
reservations, and to cut timber for their own uses; that 
actual settlers would be allowed to cut such timber as they 
might need for domestic purposes; that the rights of no 
individual would be interfered with; that no settler would 
be prevented from taking up a ranch, no prospector hin- 
dered from searching for mineral, no miner from working 
on his claim. Eeason, however, seems to be wasted on 
people while in a condition of such apprehension. 
Soon after that, however, the complete report of the 
National Academy was made public, and its recommenda- 
tions have since been before the people. Liberal regula- 
tions have been established by the Secretary of the 
Interior for the protection of the forest reservations. An 
appropriation has been made by Congress for the survey 
of the boundaries by the United States Geological Survey 
As things stand to-day, the rights of actual settlers within 
the reservations are fully protected. They have the power 
to build wagon roads to their holdings, to build schools 
and churches, and they have the privilege of exchanging 
their claims — if they wish to do so — for other lands out- 
side the reservations. The Secretary of the Interior is 
authorized by law to permit the use of timber and stone 
by settlers, whether farmers, miners or'cattlemen, for fire- 
wood, fencing, building, mining, prospecting, and other 
domestic purposes. 
With the change in public opinion, the active interest 
of the Secretary of- the Interior, and a reasonable prospect 
that Congress may be induced to take some steps toward 
giving its aid in enacting the laws, and may supply the 
money so greatly needed for this purpose, there seems at 
last a hope that an adequate forest service may be es* 
tablished in the United States, 
SNAP SHOTS. 
Four hundred years haVe elapsed since (in 1497) Vasco 
de Gama rounded the Cape of Storms, named thereafter 
the Cape of Good Hope, and discovered the ocean route to 
the East Indies; and it was three ihundred years ago that 
Camoens wrote his "Lusiad," the epic of the achievements 
of De Gama. Camoens was a poet of nature; exquisite 
bits of description are found in his poem. Of two famous 
passages, one is that in which the adventurous seamen are 
confronted in the night by the warning apparition of the 
Giant of the Cape — 
"when rising through the darken 'd air, 
Appall'd, we saw a hideous phantom glare; 
High and enormous o'er the tiood he tower 'd. 
And 'thwart our way with sullen aspect lower'd." 
And another is the description of the Island of Venus, 
the concluding lines of which furnish the quotation at the 
head of this page. That which has prompted our allu- 
sion to Camoens, however, is this simile, which, consider- 
ing the three centuries that have elapsed since it was 
written, is interesting as showing that the Portuguese poet 
knew something of shoulder-guns and retrievers: 
"So, when the fowler to his cheek uprears 
The hollow steel, and on the mallard bears. 
His eager dog, ere bursts the flashing roar. 
Fierce for the prey, springs headlong from the shore, 
And barking, cuts the wave with furious joy." 
Let us suppose a case. Suppose that once upon a time 
there were moose in New York. Suppose that the moose 
having become extinct, the law nevertheless made a close 
season on moose. Suppose, moreover, that New York had a 
clause in its law which forbade the export of "any game 
mammals of the State." Suppose that the Chicago owner 
of an Adirondack game preserve should stock his preserve 
with moose "rescued" in Jackson's Hole, Wyoming. Sup- 
pose, finally, that the Chicago man should kill his Wyoming 
moose in his Adirondack preserve. Could he lawfully take 
it to Chicago, or would it be classed as among the "game 
mammals of the State," and so not a subject of export? 
This is a case which has no existence in fact, but the 
principle involved actually has come up in a certain game 
preserve enterprise, where introduced game has multiplied 
to an extent demanding reduction; and the owner of the 
preserve being a non-resident is, or is not, debarred by 
just such a law from killing and taking home what he 
would. The species is extinct as wild game in the State; 
its only representatives are in zoos and preserves. The 
point of the law's application in such cases is one which is 
likely to come up, for preserves are multiplying rapidly. 
In New Hampshire, we believe, a special provision of the 
State exempts the Corbin game park from the operation 
of the law. 
The buffalo of the Corbin herd, which have been for 
some months in Van Cortlandt Park, in New York city, 
were transferred this week back to the Blue Mountain 
Park, in New Hampshire. Only two cows remain in New 
York. The reason why Mr. Corbin took the animals 
back into his possession may be found in the fact that live 
buffalo nowadays are extremely valuable live stock, for 
which there is a ready market. -The animals excited 
much interest in New York, and the loss of them will be 
felt. The Park Commissioners, we observe, have com- 
plained that the buffalo had mined the shrubbery in that 
part of the park given up to them. This was at best a 
scrubby waste, wholly insufficient in food supply and of 
restricted range; and this talk about the havoc made by 
the buffalo comes with ill grace from officials whose mis- 
conduct of the public park affairs is in some respects sim- 
ply monstrous. 
