March ig, iSgS.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
228 
line a yard above the hook to keep the big black riffle 
sucker I had hooked on from poking his nose under 
the rocks at the bottom of the streani; however, I rarely 
use a cork in bass fishing till I get too lazy to fish. 
I made a cast well out in the stream, and sat down 
on a rock and w^atched the cork as the big sucker towed 
it around, jerking it under out of sight for an instant 
noAV and then till I got so lazy and sleepy that I could 
barely keep the rod tip from dropping in the water. 
Looking up after a jerky nod, I found the cork out 
of sight, and the line tightening as something pulled 
at it, going straight across the stream. 
I took my thumb from the reel spool, letting the line 
run freely out, and got to my feet under the solemn 
conviction that I had a bite at last, but I could not 
make out whether it was bass, cat or turtle, and I didn't 
care much; it was a bite. I stopped the reel, and when 
the line tightened I struck with such a vicious swipe 
that I was moved to beg the old rod's pardon, but I felt 
like jerking the critter's jaw loose — whatever it was — 
to even up for the strikes I didn't get in the fore part 
of the day. Almost on the instant a bass went out 
of the water — I must have jerked him out — over near 
the further bank; a bass about the size of one of Tom's 
best ones, and then I waded up, and after a biief but 
vigorous fight landed my first fish of_the day. 
Tom couldn't see me for some trees and bushes that 
hung over the water between us, but he heard the splash 
of the bass and called down, "Git one, Hickory?" 
I didn't answer, but strung my fish and went to fish- 
ing again, now fully awake and with more heart in it. 
I had poked on a big yellow chub, over 4in. long — 
tough, hardy fellows they arc— made a cast in front of 
a fringe of willows below me that hung over and in the 
water, and sat down on the rock to draw a little solace 
from the pld pipe and ruminate while waiting for another 
bite. 
Suddenly the little cork; went out of sight with a 
flip, and I got to my feet a little reluctantly, feeling 
a trifle cross-grained at having my reverie disturbed. 
The line began to run off the reel at a rate that re- 
minded me of some old times on the Tippecanoe River, 
and when at last I stopped it and gave the rod a side 
twitch, "Jumpin' Jehosafat!" I started a difficulty that 
would have done Tom's eyes good to see. 
I knew by the feel that there was some tough work 
cut out for the old rod, and I laid the pipe down on 
the rock_ to have a fair show, for I never could smoke, 
chaw, spit and handle a fish at the same time. 
The bass — for it was a bass — broke water once away 
off across and down stream and showed his size — a 
.^-pounder or over if an ounce. Just then the lazy, 
drowsy feeling left me; my blood was up for a fight 
of ye olden kind. When he hit the water he started 
straight for the overhanging willows to my left, and 
I had the hardest kind of work to pull him away and 
head him past me up stream. He made a dash and 
went for a bush top hanging in the water up toward 
where Tom was fishing, and then the fight became ex- 
citing in earnest. 
I had on the reel a fine No. i Natchaug line tMt was 
old and somewhat worn, and as I looked for it to part 
under the strain at any instant, I made the oft-tried 
old rod do most of the work. After a tug that made 
me hold my breath, I held him away from the bush 
top and he started across the stream and made a wide 
circuit down near where T struck him, and then I worked 
him back, a little at a time, till I had him well in hand 
near the shore in front of me. 
Having by this time a little more confidence in the 
old line, I held the rod up to give him the spring of 
it, and just let him splurge and surge and cavort around 
—give and take — till he wore himself out and gave up 
the fight from sheer exhaustion. 
My, what a game fight the old warrior made for his 
life! I seem to feel even now the electricity running 
up my arm through an imaginary line and rod, and 
■'warmin' the cockles o' my heart" from the mere mem- 
ory of it. 
When the last flop was out of him I led him to the 
bank, and stooping over grasped his lower jaw with 
thumb and finger — I had no landing net — and lifted him 
out over the bank, "a thing of beauty and a joy 'for — 
old Hickory." 
I secured him on the stringer, adjusted the big chub 
on the hook again — the bass had thrown him out up 
the line a couple of feet or more, uninjured and as lively 
as ever— and cast out to feel for another one. I lighted 
the old pipe and sat down on my rock to quiet my nerves 
with a few whififs, for during the recent controversy 
I had become "a leetle mite narveous." 
Tom sat on his rock above and fished serenely, in 
blissful ignorance of the exciting episode just passed. 
I fished till I got tired of waiting for a bite, and then 
followed the path through the bushes around a few yards 
below to another opening in the brush, where I could 
get to the bank of the stream. Here I fished till the 
sun slanted in my face, and I got lazy again and reeled 
slowly in to quit and go to camp and up to the farm- 
house for some milk and a loaf of bread that we wanted 
for supper. 
As the little cork neared the end of an old sunken 
"John boat" lying with one end against the bank, it 
suddenly went under water out of sight, and I let the 
reel run till lo or 12yds. of line went out straight across 
the stream, as near as I could judge for the milky water, 
and when it tightened I pulled and thought sure 1 
had struck a log or a mud turtle. A second more and 
a bass went out of the water away out in the stream 
that looked to be more than 2oin. long, and then began 
about the craziest performance that I" ever witnessed 
in a fishing experience of nearly fifty years. When he 
struck the water he started quartering up stream straight 
for the place where I had left my fish and minnow bucket, 
and for fully 50ft. or more perhaps he flashed along 
with the speed of a rocket, as it looked, with his dorsal 
fin erect and bristHng and an inch or more of his back 
out of water. He seemed to fairly fly, and I swung 
the rod up, pulled as nearly into an arch as a rod 
can shape_ itself, to hold him out of the willow tops 
drooping in the water along the bank, and the nearer 
he got to them the harder strain I put on the old rod, 
forgetting all about the uncertain strength of the little 
line. When within less than loft. of the willows he 
went under water and turned toward me, as the lessened 
strain on the rod indicated, and the next instant he 
went nearly 3ft. into the air, and shook the hook and 
big chub out as "clean an' slick as a whistle," right 
there under my uose, as it were. 
"Land o' the settin' sun! was there ever Such luck 
on the face o' this livin' airth?" 
It may have been that he was only slightly hooked, 
and the hook tore out under the strain I was putting 
oil it; anyhow the spring of the rod jerked hook and 
minnow a dozen feet toward me before they struck 
the water. The old, old twitter — "the. big ones always 
get away" — that some idiot is ready to poke at yon Avhen 
you lose a big fish, came in my mind, and it didn't im- 
prove my ruffled temper any. 
I made the argument to myself that a big powerful 
fish can get away easier than a little weak one. A big 
bass of 5 or 61bs. has ten chances of breaking a hook 
or parting a line to a little one's none; and if he is 
only slightly hooked the big one may by main strength 
tear loose from the hook, while a half-pounder would 
stand no chance Avhatever of doing the same trick, 
because not possessed of the strength to do it. 
Thus I figured it out to my entire satisfaction why 
I had lost that big bass, and I was in just the mood to 
set those down who are forever chaffing one with "the 
big ones always get away," as a lot of asses, without 
sense enough to find out why they get awav. So I 
consoled myself in a measure, but I think I was never 
more keenly disappointed and upset in my life over 
losing a fish than I was over the loss of that bass; 
but he had beaten me in fair open warfare, and I had 
to bear my defeat with the best grace possible. Still it 
-was a case that called for a whole lot of vigorous ex- 
pressions, mixed with more or less profanity perhaps, 
but I couldn't call to mind ju.st then any words or ad- 
jectives within the scope of the United States language 
strong enough to relieve my feelings, so I said nothing 
at all. 
I fished a while longer, with a forlorn hope that the 
old fellow would take a notion for another taste of the 
yaller chub (that chub had a few scales scraped off 
but otherwise was lively and in good condition to 
stand another episode), but he seemed to have enough 
for the day at least, and I reeled up, crushed in spirit, and 
went around where I had left my bucket and my two fish 
and taking old yaller carefully off the hook dropped him 
in the bucket for another cast for the big crazy bass next 
day I went up the path to where Tom still sat on his 
rock a picture of indolent content, and held up my 
hsh for his inspection. He set his rod, and after criti- 
cally looking the big one over and "heftin' " him he said, 
still looking wistfully at the bass, "My, but he's a dar- 
lin ! three pounds an' a half shore's yer born' Where'd 
ye get him, Jeems?" But he didn't chuckle any; that 
bass seemed to knock all the hilarity out of him, and 
he looked about as cheerful as a pug dog at a funeral 
• X.^'^V ^ of evener for his laugh at me earlier 
m the day. When I told him about losing one down by 
the old boat that would weigh 2lbs. more than the dar- 
Iiri , he brightened up and said cheerily, "All right 
LLickory, 1 II go down there to-morrow and catch him 
tor you; let s go up to camp and get supper." The sun 
bad dropped below the hill and it was time 
Back at the camp we tied our fish out near the wash- 
s^and and I made a trip to the farmhouse, while Tom 
started a fire and dressed the two catfish and a couple 
of the smafler bass. We had for supper cats and bass, 
bacon and eggs, bread and butter, with delicious honey 
from the Riggles apiary smeared on it, coffee and some 
ottier good things that I don't now recall, which moved 
lorn to remark, as he had said of our bed, "Hickorv 
Its good enough for a dog." 
After supper we rigged up some set lines and tied 
them to the roots and stakes stuck in the ground along 
the bank above the ripraps and baited them with dead 
minnows; these for channel cats, and mayhap a soft- 
shelled turtle; for channel cats done brown, and soft- 
shelled turtle done into a savory stew are "pow'ful good 
We carried up a lot of wood from a drift near by and 
sat in front of our cheery camp-fire and smoked and 
talked of the events of the day till well into the night, 
and turned m when the fire had burned out as con- 
tented a pair of "old comrades" (I am more than twice 
as old as Tom) as ever made a camp together. 
Kingfisher. 
[to EE CONCLUDED.] 
East African Mammals, 
BY D. G. ELLIOT, F.E.S.E. 
{Continued from page 204.) 
Swayne's Dik-Dik {Madoqua swaynei). Native Name 
Sakdro Gtiyu. 
Of the three species of pigmy antelopes inhabiting 
bomah-land the present is the smallest. It is generally 
distributed, and we met with it from the coast across the 
Haud to Ogaden. We have no specimen from that land, 
where it seems to be supplanted by the two succeeding 
species, but we did obtain examples a considerable dis- 
tance south of Toyo Plain, and it is probable that in 
that direction it extends its range to Ogaden also. It 
is clearly distinguishable from M. philHpsi, the color of 
its coat being very much lighter and of a different hue. 
My series is quite large enough to make this fact conspic- 
uously plain, and although the two species are met with 
frequently in the same localities there can be no doubt 
I think that they are independent species and not races 
one of the other. This Dik-Dik is very plentiful, and 
a larger number would often be seen in one day. It 
does not go in troops, but usually only the male and 
female would be found together, sometimes accompanied 
by a young one. They would bound out of a clump 
of aloes or from beneath some bush and go rushing 
away just like rabbits, and it was surprising the speed 
at which they swept along. They rarely ran in a direct 
course for any distance, but dodged about among the 
bushes in the most bewildering way. After running for 
a few moments they would stop and intently regard the 
cause of their alarm, and thus jj^ive an opportunity to 
alioot at them with some chance of success. The female 
always led the way, the male following a short distance 
behind. Should a young one be of the party it generally 
took the lead, and showed fully as great speed as the pa- 
rents, keeping ahead with apparently no effort. Their 
slender legs, no larger than pipe stems, move with such 
rapidity that they become invisible, and it would seem 
that they could hardly withstand the shocks and hard 
usage they must receive on the rough, uneven ground 
their owner delights in. Dik-Dik feed on leaves and 
shoots of various bushes, and seem to be rather depend- 
ant on a supply of water, though where the individuals 
living to the south of Toyo Plain and similar dry local- 
ities procured it, would be difficult to ascertain. 
Piiir.LTp's Dik-Dik {Madoqua phiiUpsi), Native Name, 
Sakdro Gol Ass. 
Phillip's Dik-Dik is larger tlian Swayne's, and also 
very differently colored, its rich rufous, almost at times 
mahogany flanks, presenting a strong contrast _ to the 
dark back and pure white belly. In some individuals 
this red color intrudes so far upon the white of the 
under parts as to leave merely a narrow white line in the 
center of the breast and belly. Placed side by side in 
a considerable series as that now before me, the strong 
dift'erencc in color between these two small antelopes 
is very apparent. 
A remarkable peculiarity of these little animals is the 
immense deposit in the antorbital vacuity of a black 
pigment, which stains everything it touches. It forms 
a swelling just in front of the eye and from its jet black 
color and considerable size makes a very conspicuous 
mark. No trace of this exists in the skin, and as the 
skull shows a cavity at this point, no one would imagine 
that there would here be a prominence on the face in- 
stead of a depression. The lack of knowledge of such 
facts as this causes the mounted specimens in museums 
to appear totally unlike the living animal, more cari- 
catures than the real object, and I have never seen any 
drawing that correctly represented a Dik-Dik. Waller's 
gazelle is another species possessing a similar deposit, 
but of course from the greater size of that species it 
is on a much larger scale.* 
When alarmed these Dik-Dik utter a shrill whistle two 
or three times repeated, and then bound away in a series 
of jumps as if they were mounted on springs, flying at 
times over low bushes, or leaping high in air as if to 
enable themselves to look back and get a better sight 
of the intruder on their grounds. Their movements 
on such occasions reminded me moi*c of the powerful 
jumps of the mule deer (Cariacus macrotis, Say) than of 
any other animal that I have seen, and in proportion to 
their respective sizes I think the Dik-Dik could cover 
more ground in their average leaps. They are very 
pretty and attractive animals, with a peculiar physiog- 
nomy, caused by the black swelling already referred to, 
and the immense e3-e, seemingly out of all proportion to 
the rest of the face. It is an ej-^e that would be naturally 
associated with a nocturnal animal, and gives the impres- 
sion that its owner ought to see best in the dark, but I 
never noticed that these antelopes were ever incommoded 
during the daytime from lack of ability to see clearly. 
The iris is a light hazel, which makes the large eye 
even more conspicuous. Only the males of these species 
carry horns, about 2.5oin. in length, nearly straight, 
sharply pointed, and annulated for two-thirds their' 
length. Between and back of the horns is a long crest- 
like tuft of rufous-colored hair. The figure of this spe- 
cies in Sclater and Thomas' "Book of Antelopes" is 
not nearly richly enoup'h colored. The flanks are too 
light. 
Guenther's Dik-Dik (Mndoqua gumtheri). Native Name, 
Sakdro Giisstdi. 
This Dik-Dik, peculiar among species of this genus 
in Somali-land on account of its lengthened muzzle, is 
not found so far as my experience goes north of the 
southern limits of the Haud. We met with it for the 
first time at Dagahbur, and together with Phillip's Dik- 
Dik it is found throughout Ogaden. In size it is much 
larger than eitlier of the preceding species, and has a 
very differently colored coat, but would without these 
characteristics be readily distinguished by its long muz- 
zle. It is not nearly so handsome a species as the other 
Dik-Diks, lacking entirely the strongly contrasting 
coloring which they possess. It goes in larger troops 
than either of the other two species, and sometimes 
as many as a dozen are found together, being in this 
respect quite different from either Swayne's or Phillip's, 
of which rarely more than three are started at a time. 
It may, however, have been possible that as it was the 
summer months, April to October, when I was in Somali- 
land, these animals were paired, and that woitld ac- 
count for only a male and female being always found 
alone together. In its general habits Guenther's Dik- 
Dik does not seem to differ from its allies of the same 
genus. This species is about one-fourth larger than 
Phillip's Dik-Dik. 
Pelzeln's Gazei-LE {Gazella pchdni, Koitl). Native Name, 
D^ro. 
This is the gazelle of the lowlands, and is not often 
seen much beyond Laferug on the road to Hargeisa, 
where the following species begins to make its appear- 
ance. It is the larger animal of the two, and they re- 
semble each other very much in their habits. Pelzeln's 
gazelle frequents dry and stony places, covered with low 
bushes, and it is difficult to see where or how it can 
obtain sufficient nourishment from the barren, forbid- 
ding districts it inhabits. It goes in small troops of 
from two or three to nearly a dozen individuals. I 
think eleven was the greatest number I ever saw together 
at one time. As a rule it is not a wild creature and read- 
ily permits an approach sufficiently near to insure a fatal 
shot, but of course when much'hunted becomes wild and 
wary. The males were often seen by themselves, and then 
it was not difficult to stalk them. Their horns are almost 
straight and annulated nearly to the tips. The female 
also carries horns, much straighter and much more 
* Much additional technical matter as to Phillips' Dik-dik and 
the other species described will bo fottnd in the Proceedings 
o£ the Field. Columbia Museum. 
