Oct. 8, 1898.I 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
288 
he would find a spring, as we had not had an opportu- 
nity of replenishing our canteens during the day. His 
quest was unsuccessful so far as finding water was 
concerned, but he brought back some of the finest 
huckleberries I have ever seen. Throughout the greater 
part of our trip we had this fruit in abundance, and of 
the finest possible flavor. 
The bushes were not more than 6 or Sin. high general- 
ly, but the berries were in such clusters as to give the 
effect in many places of bunches of blue flowers. The 
stunted character of the bushes is probably due to the 
frequent forest fires, which do not admit of their attain- 
ing much growth, but at the same time do not lessen 
their iruitfulness. 
By sundown the tent was pitched and the ground 
v' 1 thin strewed a foot deep with twigs and sweet fern; 
the rubber floor cloth spread over this; blankets spread 
for the night, the mosquitoes brushed out of the tent 
through the open front with a bough, and the mosquito 
bar carefully fastened over the opening with safety pins. 
We have learned on former trips that too much pains 
cannot be expended in circumventing the mosquitoes. A 
floor cloth at least a foot longer each way than the in- 
side of the tent, and a big double mosquito bar for the 
front with plenty of large safety pins to fasten it with, will 
enable one to get a good night's rest, while the mosqui- 
toes vent their harmless rage outside. 
Supper was served upon a heavy piece of canvas about 
6ft. square, which was used for that purpose when in 
camp, and was wrapped around the tent when we broke 
camp, to save the latter from wear and rough handling. 
An account of one supper will do for all: A couple 
of quart cans of soup; a cold boiled potato salad, or a 
tomato salad when we could get the principal ingredient; 
fried eggs and bacon, and claret. Coffee we only used in 
the morning. 
Below the dam was a very likely looking pool, 20 or 
30yds. across, with a large section of framed timbers of 
the ruined structure stranded near the lower end. It 
seemed such a very favorable place for fish that we 
thought best to give it a trial before embarking the next 
morning, but not a sign of fish life could we discover, and 
after a quarter of an hour of fruitless whipping of the 
water we took the regular final look all over the camp 
grounds to see that everything had been picked up, and 
stepped into our boats and pushed off. For a mile or 
two there was considerable current, and a few boulders 
m the channel, with high land on one or both sides of 
the stream, but in a^ short time 'we were again in the 
marshes and tamarack swamps, with the river winding 
back and forth like a snake, duplicating precisely our 
experience of the previous day. With the exception of 
half a dozen ducks, and as many muskrats, which we 
surprised at various times during the day as we rounded 
sudden bends, we saw no more life than then. Clouds 
;athered early and threatened rain; by noon the wind 
ad got around into the north and the air was damp and 
ecidedly chilly. We anchored close together and from 
our plentiful stores had a comfortable lunch and a 
glass ol wine, and resumed our journev without loss of 
time. As the next day was Sunday, we were desirous of 
getting a good camping place in order to avoid travel- 
ing on that day, but it was late in the evening before 
we reached a place where land high and dry enough for a 
camp came anywhere near the water's edge. The boys 
in the rear in the Osprey confessed themselves pretty 
well used up, and daylight would not have lasted much 
longer, when we were rejoiced to see aplace wherean elbow 
ot the high land which reached out into the marsh 
formed the river bank for 50 or 75yds.— a steep bank or 
immature bluff 7 or 8ft. high sloping down at the lower 
end to a convenient boat landing. The timber with which 
the land had once been covered had been cut away long 
before, as well as that from all the adjacent pine land but 
a scattering scrubby growth took its place. Having 
anded and selected a place for the tent, some 40ft from 
where we had beached the boats, we all set to work and 
in a very short time things began to assume a homelike 
appearance. Everything having been unloaded, one of 
the party took the axe and set to work to lay in a good 
■supply of fuel another set up our camp range or stove 
and unpacked the various cooking utensils and pro- 
visions needed, while the other two pitched the tent and 
got the blankets arranged for the night. The air was 
almost too cold for mosquitoes, but we always chose an 
airy place where the wind had full sweep, and wher- 
ever we could find such a one were not much troubled 
Everything indicated rain, and our preparations were 
made Wlt h this contingency in view; the two flies with 
Which our tent was provided were both spread and well 
secured, and the principal tent pegs reinforced with 
wooden ones. Before supper was ready it was quite 
dark and the ram began to come down in a gentle driz- 
I „•!, f '. W J" • f e P r °PP ed U P to a height of 4 or 5 ft. 
with forked sticks, we were not inconvenienced. The 
mes together formed a porch to our canvas summer 
K ., nd In . r f m y weather we could build quite a fire 
Wider them without any danger of burning, and it was 
possible to prepare a meal on a rainy day without dis- 
turbing any of the arrangements of the tent 
A supper of hot clam chowder with fried eggs and 
r nr q!L VOted u » a ™mously that we had selected a 
fc r oci Sunday camp. 
diffe,-en? 8 t^ SUPP!y ° f 7°° d under COTer we were in- 
cinvas unt; rain ' and ™ther enjoyed its patter on the 
Seep WC g0t Undcr the blankets and went to 
Sunday morning was cold and windy, but no rain. A 
uge fire soon dispelled the dampness in the immediate 
eternity of the tent, and while one of the party was put- 
ling out the blankets to air, and getting the "interior of 
the tent in order for the day, the rest gathered a supply 
of splendid blueberries for breakfast, at which meal 
hey were served with condensed cream, reduced with 
water to the proper consistency for the purpose. While 
lathering berries I noticed something white in a cleft 
n an old pine log, and on examination it proved to be a 
copy of the Youth's Companion, Nov. 5, 1895, which 
nad apparently never been read. It was folded just as it 
. a me from the post-office, and I amused mvself speculat- 
es about the probable owner of this copy of a paper 
which has been taken many years in my own family. 
There were many evidences about of another camp hav- 
ing been located on our chosen spot at some previous 
tune. 
Our canteens being nearly empty, we were desirous of 
finding a spring where we could get a fresh supply, as the 
river water, though cold enough, had a marshy flavor 
which was not agreeable. The Professor said he had 
heard the sound of falling water as he passed a point not 
very far back where there were a number of white 
birches, which would readily distinguish the place, and 
that it could only mean that there was a spring there. 
R. said he had also heard it as he and T. came by m 
the Osprey, and that he could locate it without trouble, 
so taking both canteens, we started to row back up the 
stream, but here occurred a difficulty: there were several 
points at bends in the river where there were white 
birches, and the pattering rain drops made noise enough 
to drown the tinkling of the spring. We went quite a 
distance up stream without discovering the object of our 
search, and concluding we must have passed it re- 
turned keeping close along shore, listening and watching 
carefully as we went. We finally found a pretty rivulet 
of very cold spring water, with which we filled both 
canteens and a pail which we had also taken with us 
On account of the unfavorable weather, most of the day 
was spent in the tent with our books, of which we had 
a goodly supply. I found Stephenson's "Inland Voy- 
age" particularly pleasant reading for such a trip as 
ours, and any one who likes canoeing has a treat before 
him if he has not yet read this delightful but too short 
narrative. 
Late in the afternoon R. got out his Stevens .22cal. 
rifle, and proposed a little target shooting. While thus 
employed we were almost as much astonished by the 
sight of two canoes containing three men, rounding a 
point just above the camp, as Robinson Crusoe was at 
the print of a human foot on the shore of his solitary 
domain. We had not seen a soul since leaving Lac 
Vieux Desert on Friday morning, and had begun to 
look upon the river as our private property, where we 
were lords of the fowl and the brute, both remarkably 
scarce. As the two boats came alongside our camp I 
a/ S le £u by a hail and the gating, "Good morniAg, 
M. 1 he speaker was a young gentleman of Madi- 
son, Wisconsin, whom I had met for a few moments 
only m a Chicago parlor some weeks before He 
knew I was on the river, and the number of our party 
hence easily recognized me, while I had no idea he was 
in that part of the country. The other two of his 
party, as 1 learned when they pulled up at our boat land- 
ing, were his father and brother, who were in a separate 
canoe. They were like ourselves descending the Wis- 
consin from its source, but quite unlike us, who were in 
not the least hurry, they were doing it as rapidly as pos- 
sible, and intended to, push on until they reached the 
Mississippi. 
They had started one day later than we, were traveling 
light, with small tent, an insufficient quantity of blankets 
for such weather, and few supplies of any kind, and 
were very anxious to reach Eagle River, which was sup- 
posed to be only a few miles ahead, so that they could 
have a comfortable sleep in a bed that ni°iit 
.i, b f °, ttle of claret, which we opened° for them, as 
about the most comforting thing we had, was accepted 
with hearty good will, and soon brought something of a 
glow into their chilled veins, and they started on w tit 
renewed vigor. 
_ We heard of them several times after that, always an 
increasing number of days in advance of us. 
Lexden. 
l-to be concluded next week.] 
A Letter from Antoine Bissette. 
M'sieu' Fores' Strim: 
Ah'll ant see you 'fore or after bose en' of de war 
wid dat Spaniels for talk wid you 'baout it an' Ah'll 
ant know what you' pinion. 
Ah s'pose prorTly it you ant gat sem 'pinion of all 
dem feller 111 de city dat holler "hurrah, hurrah " for de 
war wen dat Maine sloop get blewed, dey was use 
you for sofa cushion, ant it? 
Dat de way it was be here for de hoi' folks dat seen 
some war an ant want for see some more, de boy an' de 
gal was sit on it, pooty hard, Ah tol' you 
i< or all Ah'll gat so many experiment on de Paoineau 
man* fe'T aX f rae j or be othcy, dey ant wJnfCgS 
mah hoi hoss for de hossback sojer. Ah'll ant -at 
nephew can get place for be capitan, ho ly fif one 
mah hown boy in de mellyshy an' he jes private part 
of it so you see Ah'll ant want some war me an' 
Ursu e he ant want it too, on 'caount aour boy 
But de war he come, an' de boy he go an' we holler 
an U he a e h s Zv^lT * * ™* >~ 
Den bombye w'en he gat on Chicken maugury he ant 
ga do's he ant gat heat, he ant gat drink fi^for dey' 
water an' he roas an' starve an' go dry inside hees belly 
hlln /JV°K m m ° nt ' ? n Ah ' n ant see ha °w dat was 
help dat Cuba niggers for not be hongry me 
Dey sen some sojer feller down dere dey call hemune 
cause dey can' caught some yaller fever, but dey was 
plenty udder color fever 'sides yaller, an' aour soier 
boys fetch em home wid it w'en dey come back leetly 
wile ago an dem fever fetch good many aour boy 
naow, an more of it goin' for kep' dyin' 
Oh, bah gosh! Ah tol' you, jes' one aour boy, he 
wort more as de hul bihn of dem Cuba nio-ger 
Some of de hurrah for de war feller say, w'en we drive 
de Spaniel off dat islan' tobac' goin' for be more cheap; 
but, bah gosh, Clapham ax six cen' more paoun' for de 
blue paper as he was 'fore, an' he ant so good tobac' 
Fus t'mg you know nex' dat islan' goin' be some 
Wited States, an dem nigger goin' vote on taown meet- 
m's jes sem we Yankee. Ah'll wish for Ah'll be liable 
for shoved it all on de nocean, me. 
Dat hoi' Philip Hen Islan' jes de sem, an' jus' de sem 
Ah wish, too, bah gosh. 
'Course all us Varmont mans was felt pooty plump 
for had aour Capitan Commodore prob'ly, prob'Iy 
Admaal Dewey, knock all dem Spaniel sloop to leetly 
piecen an' not gat hurt hees hown sloop, an' 'stonish 
all de worl' for show haow we can mek de sailor on de 
montaigne, an' prob'ly you'll hear de peop' said he was 
ram for be so good navy on some place dey call Ann 
Applis, but dat ant so. 
Ah'll taught it hees fust lesson mahsef in mah cannew 
on de Onion River, me, some folk call it Ouinousqui. 
Yas, sir, she ant Ann Applis was taught it fus', but it 
was Antoine, dat's me, Bissette! 'F any body ant 
b'lieved it, Ah can show you de rivier if he ant dry up 
dis summer. 
Me an' George was be good frien' w'en he leetly boy, 
an' me an' hees brudder Charles was very good frien' 
naow, 'cause he'll gat mortage on my eight nacre farm, 
an' dat show you he t'ink grea' deal for me. 
M'sieu' Mum'son say Ah'll can' write some more 
'cause he bus' hees pen. 
Your respectably frien', 
Antoine Bissette. 
Scrippos. — Haow much you prob'ly give me for two 
bushel onion? He good one for heat or for bile, bose 
way. 
A List of the Big Game of 
North America. 
BY ERNEST SETON THOMPSON, GOVERNMENT NATURALIST TO 
THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA. 
It is proposed to begin an investigation of the original 
and present range, etc., of the Big Game or Horned 
Ruminants of North America. For present purposes, the 
southern limit will be north latitude 25 0 , passing just 
southward of Florida. This excludes a number of tropical 
deer of doubtful standing, and practically excludes the 
whole tropical region. It includes a number of deer re- 
cently described from northern Mexico, but which will 
surely be found within the limits of the United States. 
Two references for each species, including its type 
locality, are given. 
In the preparation of this preliminary list very essen- 
tial assistance has been received from Dr. C Hart 
Merriam, of the Agricultural Department at Washing- 
ton. By putting at my disposal the specimens and re- 
cords of the Biological Survey, he has greatly reduced 
the labor of making the list as well as increased its accu- 
racy. 
To Gen-it S. Miller, Jr., Esq., Assistant Curator of 
Mammals, United States National Museum, also are due 
thanks for access to the specimens in his care; to Dr. 
J. A. Allen, of the American Museum, for aid in nu- 
merous problems of range and synonomy; and to Dr. T. 
S. Palmer, of the United States Agricultural Depart- 
ment. 
1. Elk. Red Deer of Hudson Bay Co. 's men. Wapiti 
of English books; a wrong application of the name. 
Cervus canadensis (Erxleben). 
Cervus elap/ius, var. canadensis Erxleben, Syst. Regni 
Animalis, Mamm. p. 305, 1777. Eastern North 
America. 
Cervtts canadensis Desm. Mamm. II., p. 433, 1822. 
( Specimens, skulls or records for the Eastern States or Canada 
are particularly desirable. 
Baii-d records that the Elk of the Upper Saskatchewan is 
considered different by the hunters. They call it the Little Elk 
and distinguish it by its small size. 
2. Roosevelt's Elk. 
Cervus roosevelti Merriam. 
Cervus roosevelti Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. 
Washington, XL, p. 272, Dec. 17, 1897. Olympic 
Mts., Washington. 
This is the Elk of the West Coast. It is distinguished chiefly 
by its black head and legs. 
The genus Odocoileus Rafinesque, may be divided in three 
groups: Whitetails, Mule-deer, and Blacktails. 
White-tailed Group. 
Deer with tail long, dark colored above and white beneath. 
The gland on the outside of the hindleg or metatarsus about an 
inch long. 
41 il 
FIG. I. WHITETAlL DEER. 
Upper and lower surfaces of tail and metatarsal gland on left hindfoot. 
3. Common Deer of the East. Whitetail of hunt- 
ers. Virginian Deer of books. 
Odocoileus virginianus (Boddaert). 
Cervus virginianus Bodd. Elenchus Animalium, 
I., p. 136, 1785, Virginia. 
Odocoileus virginianus Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. 
Washington, XII., p. 99, April 30, 1898. 
Specimens are much needed from Virginia, Maine, 
Ottawa River, Louisiana, etc. 
4. Whitetail, Banner-tail or Long -tailed Deer 
of hunters, 
Odocoileus virginianus macrourus (Rafinesque). 
Cervus macrourus Raf. Am. Monthly Mag., L, 
No. 6, p. 435, 1817. Plains of Kansas River, 
■ Upper Mississippi Valley. 
The original description runs thus: 
<[ P. 165, Chas. Le Raye's Journal: 'During our stay 
the Indians killed a deer which is called the Long-tailed 
Deer, It is longer than the Red Deer, of a darker color 
