Jan. 15. 1808.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
45 
as though I would -winingly give a few days of my life 
to be able to go back again, and foi" a short while en- 
joy again those early hunting experiences. 
To-day the habits of the prairie chickens have changed 
from what they were even fifteen years ago. Now they 
remain in the center of the largest cornfields — 40 to 200 
acres in extent — of the region, and do not leave their re- 
treat save during a short period in the early morning'. 
When flushed they invariably steer straight for the 
center of these great fields again, and on alighting im- 
mediately scatter and run, much like the wild turkey 
in some regions. If flushed in their fastness, they will 
fly so low among the corn that it is with ditificulty a 
fair shot at them can be had, and even when .shot it is 
often difficult to retrieve them. 
CLEMEfjT L. WESStEK. 
Death of Jonathan Darling, 
Boston, Jan. 8. — ^Jonathan Darling, well known to 
sportsmen as "Jock," died at his home in Lowell, Me., 
on Wednesda}', Jan. 5. after an illness of nearly two 
years. He was sixty-eight years of age and one oT the 
pioneers in the business of entertaining sportsmen from 
out of the State. He built his famous camps at Nicatous 
Lake over twenty 3'^ears ago, and many sportsmen will 
be pained to learn of his death. An excellent guide and 
a thorough woodsman, he Avas beloA'^ed by those he took 
charge of. He always believed in his right to hunt 
game as he chose, and his remarkable defense of himself 
at the time he was under a cloud for breaking the game 
laws was widely "ublishcd. He visited the office of the 
Forest and Stream and other papers, taking great in- 
terest in hunting and fishing matters, and always in- 
spired editors and writers as a man of integrity, though 
possiblj"^ mistaken as to his rights. He even became a 
game warden afterward, so great was the confidence 
of the Maine Commissioners in his abilitj^ and integrity, 
could he be brought to see matters in their true light. 
But he was afterward removed, not wholly converted to 
the new ideas of fish and game protection. He was al- 
ways looked up to as an authority on fish and game 
questions, especially in regard to the numbers of moose, 
caribou and deer. The many sportsmen he has guided 
from this section speak in the kindest terms of his skill 
as a guide and woodsman, of his integrity in ah matters 
pertaining to a guide and camp-keeper. Special. 
This autobiographical fragment is interesting, because 
it .shows Mr. Darling as he saw himself: 
My father was one of the oldest settlers in this part 
of Maine, and he became quite a successful trapper and 
hunter. Game then of all kinds was plentiful, and right 
at home, too. His traps were mostly wooden ones, and 
his gun was a flint lock shotgun, and I think he never 
fired a rifle. As soon as I was big enough to travel 1 
used to go with father to his traps, and sometimes he 
would shoot a deer with bullfets he made himself. This 
gave me a hankering to hunt, and as soon as I could 
manage the flint lock I took it. The first time I shot 
a deer I broke a hind leg and the dog caught him; it 
tion of our law, for which readers of Forest anb 
Stream have made a great deal of trouble for me. Now 
1 have accepted the offlce of Fish and Game Warden, and 
am confident that 1 can do good in the cause of game 
protection. 
I have caught nine bears there this season, and have 
taken up my traps for the present. I send you two of 
my photographs. One is where I have just landed from 
a bear hunt, with two bear skins hanging over the edge 
of the canoe. The dog in the stern of the canoe is the 
dog Tinker, that the wardens made so much talk about 
at my lawsuit with them. As 1 have been such a no- 
torious outlaw, etc., I did not know but yon would wish 
to show your readers what a bad looking creature I am. 
J. Darling. 
A Fox Hunt in the Adirondacks. 
On the last day of 1897 f was called at an earlier hour 
than nsu;d, having arranged with my guide, Fred Patter- 
son, the night before for a fox hunt, should the morning 
prove favorable. When 1 heard Fred's rap on my door 
I knew the weather was all right. Hurriedly dressing 
(but taking time to put on an extra woolen shirt, heavy 
sweater and thick Inmting coat, as at this season of the 
year one needs all the clothing he can comfortably carry 
to keep warm while standing on a bleak, barren moun- 
tain top), after a hastily eaten breakfast, we left in a 
sleigh on a 5J<2-mile drive for the farmhouse of John 
Nokes. If any one has spent a winter on Saranac Lake 
and hunted lor fox, they would know of genial John 
Nokes. alwa3rs ready to extend hospitality to a sports- 
man; courteous alike to all, no one would think of going 
elsewhere for a fox hunt, a welcome or a good, square 
meal. John never fails to start a fox, and never fails to 
take pleasure in doing so. He also extends hospitality 
alike to the fox, as there is an inducement lying over 
the hill, on the edge of the swamp, that John put there 
for a purpose. I noticed that one of his head of cattle 
was missing, and he hinted something about a midnight 
barbecue, to which more than one fox made nightly 
pilgrimage over many miles of moonlit snow, to feast 
and sport, and to feast and sport again, provided his 
presence there that night did not bring him in too close 
Contact with the hunter the next day. At any rate, John 
always started out in a bee line in the direction of this 
nightly rendezvous of the fox, as he did this morning. 
Wc arrived at John's at 7 o'clock, finding him ready 
and waiting for us. After directing Fred and myself 
to our standing ground, off he went toward the swamp, 
and 1 knew we would hear some music before very 
long, for John's hound Drive is quite as famous as his 
owner; he knows no other game but the fox, and once 
he strikes a track never fails to bring the fox in view 
or within range of the hunter's gim. John pointed out 
the nioimtain where wc were to staht^, and told us to 
stick to it until we reached the highest point. "You 
stand on this side of the mountain, Fred, and if you do 
just as I tell you and Drive gets one a-going, you'll see 
him, It may take an hour, or it may take a coup]e_ of 
hours; but hang to it and you'll get a crack at him. 
JONATHAN DARLING. 
was a big buck. I used to go-hunting every chance I 
could get, but as I was the oldest of the boys I had to 
work quite hard. 
T was quick to learn the habits and nature of tlife wild 
animals, and, being good with the gun and not easily 
excited, I soon got to be quite successful. T kept im- 
proving, and as years rolled on I began to hunt for 
the Boston market. This was some forty-five years 
ago. Then I could kill moose near home, where I could 
drive to them with a team. Later on I hunted moose 
for their hides. I did not believe this was right, but the 
Indians and many white hunters made a business of it, 
and I saw that they were sure to kill them all, and so I 
took a hand in it, and have killed over a hundred in a 
year, until they were nearly exterminated. I never 
killed any caribou or deer for their hides, but piles of 
them for the markets, 
I have been set down as a notorious poacher. aiid out- 
law, but really I am more of a poacher than an out- 
law, and more so in the papers than otherwise. I have 
advocated the use of dogs to hunt deer on bare ground 
and to drive them to water, and have used them in viola- 
Drive will fetch hiin sure." "All right, John," I said; 
"just give us a little start." For the snow was tJ^^ to 
2ft. deep, and we found it brought out the perspira- 
tion long before we got to the top. After slipping and 
.sliding, in the course of half an hour we accomplished 
our object. Leaving Fred, I started higher up, and the 
last effort made my heart beat at the rate of forty miles 
an hour. The snow was too light for snow shoeing, and 
it was hard traveling without them. I hailed Fred when 
I got to my stand on top, and then surveyed the lay of 
the land, and could understand at a glance John's wis- 
dom in sending me there, and took back all the hard 
things I had said about him during the climb. The en- 
tire mountain top was rocky and barren, a succession of 
ledges, No snow could hold there against the unbroken 
wind from every quarter of the forest. I took a stand on 
the right of the ledge, which extended some sixty or 
eighty rods in length, precipitous on one side, sloping 
gradually down on the other and at both ends, just the 
place the. fox by instinct would choose in the coursie 
of his race for life to elude his pursuers. John told me 
this, saying that even up there (pointing to this ledge) 
he could not fool old Drive; proof of which I saw dem- 
onstrated afterward. 
To the left of me there was a patch of timber, further 
down a line fence part way up the slope, perhaps a half 
mile in length. A rail fence and a pursued fox harmonize, 
and many a fox has lost his dog at such a point. Below 
and on the same side a long, narrow swamp was flanked 
on either side by hills and ridges partly timbered; while 
still further over another ravine and hill made ideal 
ground for a fox to lose his foe, and keeping to the trail 
was not an easy task even for old experienced Drive to 
accomplish. I had just time for observation and to 
put m the shells and exchange signals with Fred, when 
heard Drive give one of his short, penetrating bays. 
Then he was off, and when Drive made his whereabouts 
known John said it meant business. 
It was the kind of a day when a fox would not run 
long in the deep snow before making for t'ne ridges. 
Soon the change of Drive's tune told us as plain as 
words that he had started the fox. Off in the opposite di- 
rection he went, sometimes going straight away, again 
coming back, circling, and finally taking the i*idge op- 
posite, running parallel. Locating Drive as well as 1 
could. I watched the ridge, and before many minutes 
saw the fox on the left of it, apparently coming straight 
toward me. But he must have thought better, for he 
turned again before reaching the swamp and doubled 
back over the same course. Drive hung in one place 
for some time, and I decided to change my position to 
the far end of the ledge, and was about to carry out 
my intention, when, happening to look in that direc- 
tion, I saw the fox just as he took the ledge at that point, 
making straight for me. He had in his cunning at last 
chosen that barren, snowless mountain top as the place 
to get the better of Drive, and had I not been there he 
might successfiflly have exploited his known sagacity, 
but I was there, and only there. I had an opportunity 
to study him for some minutes, and my pleasure was 
keen in watching him come down the ledge, animated, 
keen, alive to the sense of danger, graceful, every leap 
landing on a snowless boulder. Every thought must 
have been concentrated upon his pursuer, with no knowl- 
edge of the real danger ahead. I let him come to within 
about ten rods before I fired. Miscalculating the dis- 
tance between him and an* intervening boulder, I shot 
a fraction of a second too late, and just grazed the top 
of the boulder; he turned and left the ledge to the right, 
landing 5ft. below in the snow, and took a parallel 
course, but at a greater distance. Catching a glimpse of 
him again. I fired a second time with the same result. 
Hastily throwing out the shells, and putting in the only • 
one I had left, I waited for him for a third shot, thinking 
the chances of getting him Avere slim, t)ut Fred stood 
where I thought he Avoidd be able to stop him. .M- 
though Fred had a Winchester and a running fo.x is not 
a large target, still I had seen his skill as a marksman 
displayed before, and felt he would bear it. out again. 
The fox was making for a large flat rock that projected 
above the snow, and I made up my mind he would cross 
it. and at that point I could use my last shell. I calcu- 
lated rightly. He made the rock, but not to cross, for I 
shot as he touched the top, and off he rolled on the op- 
posite side. The distance was so great T was not sure I 
liad killed him until I went down and saw him lying in 
the snow. The charge had taken effect just back of the 
lore shoulder. T called Fred to come up. and together 
we waited for Drive to come in. Over the ledge he came 
some ten minutes later, never .slackening his pace, and 
straight down to us. 
We discussed the hunt during dinner at John's, and 
left for home, feeling the day had been well spetit, not. 
however, before we had arranged witli John for another 
hunt in the near future. W. S. LAMmtRT. 
Saranac Lake, N. V, 
By Way of Illustration. 
WvMORE, Neb., Dec, 29. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Fo» many years I have maintained that man acts from 
necessity, that he is impelled to do just what he does do 
by forces over which he has no control, and I once de- 
fended a man for stealing hogs on this theory: but the 
jury was too stupid to see it that way, and when I argued 
the motion for a new trial to the judge I found he Avas 
stupid, too, and my client went to the penitentiary, still 
impelled by forces over which he had no control. But 
there is an air of stupidity about the court-room that I 
know I will not encounter in the forum of Forest and 
Stream. So I will submit, in illustration of my theory, 
something that happened to myself. 
This neighborhood has been overrun with rabbits this 
winter; they are so plenty that they have become a pest, 
and all the farmers Avho have young orchards have been 
appealing to all the local Nimrods to help destroy the 
rabbits and save the orchards. Now, I have been too 
chickenhearted for a long time to kill a rabbit or any- 
thing but a blue rock, and reading "Men I Have Fished 
With" these long winter evenings has not had a ten- 
dency to make me bloodthirsty. But the Avonderful 
stories being told every day of the great number of rab- 
bits had excited my curiosity. 
So the other day. when Doc dropped in and asked 
me why I did not go rabbit hunting I said: "You drive 
round to my house after dinner and I Avill go with you." 
We started about 2 o'clock and drove out to Ben's. 
Ben hitched up to the sled and got one of his Doys in 
to drive the team, and aAvay we went. 
It Avas about 3:30 when we reached the "draAV," a 
wide slough, full of snow, grass and Aveeds, leading down 
to the creek. Doc got on the high banTc on one side 
and I took the bank on the other side. Ben, Ayith. three 
dogs, took the center of the slough. 
Pretty soon the rabbits began to shoAv up and run in 
every direction. I saw tAvo or three dodging around in 
the weeds, but did not shoot at them. Finally, I saAV one 
a long way off and fired, but did not get him; then I 
shot at several more and missed. By this time Ben had 
killed seven or eight, and he yelled across to me: "Say, 
don't be so particular about holding that gim in a nice 
position, but kill the rabbits," , , , , 
I looked over at Doc. His cap was pushed back on 
his head, his gray hair was streaming about his face, hts 
