FORfiST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 22, 1898. 
our good-byes and proceeded back toward the Mer- 
menteau River in the direction of our boat, On the 
beach a band of Franklin's pretty children volunteered 
their services in gathering sea shells for me, and we 
picked up enough to fill two cigar boxes. It was not 
without the keenest sense of regret, even sadness, that 
we said adieu to our good friends, and the shore birds 
and the placid waters of the Gulf. 
We were all impressed with the beauty of the Spanish 
moss, which we found wherever the shores were wooded, 
draping the branches of the trees and deepening the 
shadows that fell beneath them. Here and there grace- 
ful sprays of mistletoe and holly heightened the effect; 
and the scene was beautiful beyond descriptiqn when at 
sunset the foliage glistened with countless dewy gems 
and was radiant with the glow of the sou hern sun. 
We stopped that night at Grand Cheniere, a pictur- 
esque Creole settlement, meanwhile having stored our 
birds in one of the large skiffs with a canvas covering 
to keep them from the sun. On the way up the river we 
encountered a Creole captain of a small sloop, who met 
us in a rowboat and dropped back in tow, joining us 
forward in a few moments after securing his boat. 
Some one from the sloop yelled "Fire!" as we passed 
by, and looking back we discovered the stranger's over- 
coat, which he had carelessly left in his boat exposed 
to the burning cinders from our smoke stack, ablaze and 
smoking. When he rescued it there was little left but 
the collar and a pair of sleeves, and I fancy the poor 
Creole had to charge up that trip to profit and loss. 
The day after we reached Lake Arthur we were all 
invited by the engineer of our boat, Monsieur Louis 
Toups, to a goose dinner a la Francaise in honor of the 
Yankees, as he called us. It developed on better ac- 
quaintance with Toups that he had fought on the Con- 
federate side in the late Civil War, but his war stories 
and allusions— I had almost called them illusions— his 
marvelous tales of hair-breadth escapes "in the imminent 
deadly breech," and of his capture, single-handed, of 
numberless renegades and deserters, and his sagacious 
prognostications of the events to be recorded in the an- 
nals of our future history, all paled in insignificance and 
receded from our transient recollections before his three- 
ply, double-distilled, eighteen-karat bear story. It was 
the legend of a man who killed 760 bears in a single 
year with the aid of Toups himself and a leash of hounds, 
and a scaffold. 
He averred that this man — whose name, for reasons of 
his own, he withheld — had devised a plan of building a 
raised scaffolding a few feet from the ground, large 
enough to accommodate nine or ten couples of bears, 
arid something in appearance, as we gathered, like a 
dance platform at a fair ground. This scaffolding was 
built within a few hundred yards of the bear thicket or 
canebrake where the hounds were put in; and as soon 
as they got the bears started from their respective lairs 
to escape the dogs, Mr. and Mrs. Bruin and the Misses 
and Messrs. Bruin would all take to the scaffold, accord- 
ing to programme, and not make the mistake of seek- 
ing a more inaccessible retreat. Here they would form 
sets something like a waltz quadrille or a prairie queen, 
and be shot down one at a time to the tune of three or 
four Winchester rifles and the music of the hounds, 
which, we were led to suppose, would "all join hands and 
circle round" until the last bear was dead. If, per- 
chance, a young and guileless bear hound should be 
required to furnish a test of his staying powers, the 
master of the hounds would throw him up among the 
bears on the scaffold early in the action, and if he got 
a blow from one of Bruin's paws and lived, he was 
decided to be "a good bear dog." I believe Toups had 
rehearsed these tales so often that he has almost come 
to believe them himself. 
We had a most delightful repast, hunters' style, thanks 
to Toups' good vyife and the bright eyes of their 
children, and thanks to appetites born of exercise and 
privation; and in spite of many quips at our host for not 
lubricating his machinery with bear grease, and with 
much ill-timed admonition to him against "firing out- 
side his boiler" the next time he ran a party out through 
a , squall oil Grand Lake, we said our farewells to him 
arid his. and leaving Bob at Lake Arthur for further 
rest and retrospect, Jack and I quit the country; and 
our hunt was over. Barnum. 
A Trip Down in Maine. 
Baltimore. Oct. 10.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 
returned from the Maine woods last P. M., and as 
Forest and Stream is the sportsman's record, I will 
"rite yu thes fit lines." 
There were four in the party — three from Philadel- 
phia and myself. I did not amount to much after we 
got into the woods, but of that hereafter. To get to our 
objective point we had twenty-five miles of wagon, a 
carry of one-half mile, and nine miles of canoe on lake. 
We ail started well prepared to camp. Imagine our sur- 
prise when we found a good frame house with all the 
appointments of a first-class summer resort hotel in the 
woods, right in the wilderness. Consider that this is 
thirty-five miles from the railroad — eleven miles by 
canoe — and you will appreciate the energy of the man and 
woman who would- locate here and then undertake to 
educate their children — and their children are educated 
— in circumstances so unfavorable in so far as transpor- 
tation to the center of letters is a factor in. the matter 
of education of youth. I was curious to know how this 
was accomplished so far from the means of ordinary- 
instruction. On inquiry I found that the mother had 
been a teacher of schools in the earlier years of her 
life in Pennsylvania, and the hereditary intelligence of 
the mother had been developed and built upon by the 
teachings she aoplied during the long absences from the 
schools to which access was possible. All glory to the 
mother. 
Now to our hunt. The first .day my friend R took 
the setter for grouse; no result, partridge very scarce, did 
not get a shot. The other members of the party,. Walter 
and Abe, went for deer. Abe will be known hereafter as 
the moose caller, because of his disposition to hold his 
hands on his stomach and grunt like a bull moose. To 
return, Abe and Walter went for deer. Walter cut the 
head off a grouse; did not connect on deer; saw plenty 
of sign. Grouse very scarce and nonplussed the dog by 
flying into the trees. 
Second day.— Not any result; plenty of deer spoor, 
tracks like sheep fold, but deer had just left when we got 
there. By the way, deer have this unceremonious way ot 
bidding good-bye before saying howdy. 
Third day. — This was the dies gloria for Abe; came in 
at dark of day; good Lord; shot him through and 
through— big buck— six points — leaped iqft. high at the 
shot; lots of blood; followed him by the blood into the 
brush until it was so dark we could not follow the trail; 
too bad. too bad; got supper and started with lantern to 
find a wounded deer in the brush. Of course I didn t 
go. I have been there. But the boys were enthusiastic 
and I let them go. Hunted until late in the night, but did 
not find the deer that was shot through and through, and 
jumped 10ft. in the air at the crack of the gun. Sic 
transit. 
Fourth day. — Went out to find the wounded deer; did 
not succeed in search; might have passed within 20ft. of 
it, and it would not have made its presence known, but 
our boys did not know this fact, because it was their first 
experience with the wily animal. This day Walter shot 
and killed a nice yearling buck, which was the only deer 
killed on the hunt. 
The following day being Sunday was close time m 
Maine. Last day we all went out early, 4 o'clock; waited 
for light to shoot; jumped a deer; could not see if year- 
ling, buck or doe. Boys did not want meat, they wanted 
horns. Five shots fired; deer went off with flag up; 
came back in brush to investigate the noise. Guide 
standing beside R took deliberate aim and fired; deer 
ran with flag up; four shots fired. 
Here I left the party and took a logwood to hunt alone, 
as I was impressed that I had not any chance with a 
guide who would take' the first chance to shoot. 
The weather was warm — hot — and we could not bring 
any game out. I was particularly impressed with the 
scarcity of grouse (partridge). We got all we wanted 
to eat of venison and grouse. What the boys wanted 
was horns. Moose tracks and "spoor" were frequently 
seen along the boggy trails where the moss was abun- 
dant, and the call of the bull was "heard in the land," 
more frequently, however, at camp when Abe "got on 
to it." The ough-ou-ough-ough-ough accentuated was a 
signal that Abe was prepared to replenish his inner 
man. 
But the best of the trip was when Abe first heard the 
buck "whistle." He was quietly seated watching for the 
approach of a deer where the signs showed a crossing, 
and passed quietly into the arms of Morpheus. Stamp, 
stamp, followed by chiugh-chiugh. "What is that?" said 
Abe, waking up at the moment, "deer sure." He had 
heard it before, but not in so intense a manner, when 
he had shot the buck that jumped 10ft. in the air at the 
crack of the rifle. The deer had got his wind, and was 
trying to locate him. He did locate him and left sans 
ceremony, and Abe came back to camp a disappointed 
but a wiser man. E. S. Y. 
Notes from New Brunswick. 
Fredericton, N, B., Oct. 12.— It is a rather singular 
fact that while the record spread of moose horns for this 
Province (and it was also the record spread for Maine 
and Nova Scotia) remained for many years at 62m. , in 
two successive seasons a moose should be killed in New 
Brunswick which has entirely outclassed these figures. 
The moose shot on the Tobique last fall by Stephen De- 
catur, of Portsmouth, N. H., with a spread of 66in., was 
thought by many to be a freak, but this view of the mat- 
ter will have to" go by the board now that Mr. F. H. 
Cook, of Leominster, Mass., has brought out a moose 
from the same locality with a spread of 67. Have a few 
of the giant moose of Alaska emigrated to the Tobique, 
or do these figures mean that where the moose has a 
favorable feeding ground, and is unmolested for a period 
of years, he attains a growth far surpassing that which 
is possible where he is hunted and harried, and where 
his food supply is precarious? It is a peculiar circum- 
stance that of the many fine moose shot in New Bruns- 
wick during the last five years all heaas of 6oin. or 
over have come from the headwaters of the Tobique and 
the Restigouche (with the exception of one specimen 
shot by Mr. Bodkin on the Nepisiguit), while on the 
adjacent waters of the Nor'west and Sou'west Miramichi 
no moose has been taken for many years with a spread of 
over 56in. It looks as though a 6ft. head might yet be 
secured in New Brunswick. Chief Gabe, of the Milicete 
Reservation, claims that forty years ago he shot a 
bull moose on the Restigouche with a spread of over 
6ft., but in those days the antlers were valueless, and he 
left them in the woods. 
I have only heard of three parties of the many which 
have outfitted at Fredericton this season for the hunt- 
ing grounds that have failed to secure either moose or 
caribou, and two of. these had excellent chances. Some 
sportsmen are, of course, better shots and better able to 
tramp the woods than others. It is pleasant to know 
that our genial friend, Fred Talcott, of Providence, who 
last year failed to. connect with his noble moose, has 
this time come out with the Stars and Stripes flying 
at the fore. In a personal note Mr. Talcott says: "I 
went into camp on Salmon Brook, crossing Cains River 
at the Forks, was in the woods two weeks, and killed a 
moose and a caribou. • James Fowler, now eighty-two 
years old and over, did the calling and brought in three 
bulls, one at a time, of which I killed the best. A party 
of American sportsmen went in with Tom Weaver for 
guide. He lives a few miles below Blissfield. They had 
great luck; got one moose, two bears, two caribou and 
one horse. I am told the gentleman who killed the horse 
made a particularly .fine shot at 400yds., thinking he had 
his sights on a moose." I have been unable to learn the 
names of the party' 1 -who went with Mr. Weaver. Per- 
haps the man who shot the horse is modest. At any 
rate, he must be a good fellow, for he paid the full value 
of the horse without a murmur. The moose secured by 
this party had a spread' of over 4ft. Mr. Talcott mentions 
a fact- in regard to the mammoth moose killed by Mr. 
Cook on the Tobique that adds greatly to the value of 
the trophv, namely, that Mr. Cook himself called up the 
moose. It often happens that the sportsman who sits 
11 
shivering in his blanket on the barren is really a much J 
better caller than the guide whom he is paying $3 ajl 
day to terrify the wilderness. 
Writing under date of Oct. 5, Jerome Bradley, of I 
Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., says: "I have been home no\yI 
over a week from my hunt up the Nepisiguit, and feel 
that you would be pleased to hear of our success, since I 
you so kindly 'put me on' to that game paradise, Myjl 
friend, Henry Soennichsen, and myself managed to fill V 
our game bag with one moose, two caribou and fourj 
bears. Moose seemed to be very scarce; caribou very 
plentiful. We could have shot at least ten more. We 
saw r over forty. The bears are more than plentiful : we 
saw eighteen. I don't feel as though I ought to kick, 
having in two trips shot two moose, four caribou and 
six bears." 
George H. Adams and H. F. Whittier, of Lawrence,^ 
Mass. — which seems, by the way, to be a very prolific'! 
breeding ground of good sportsmen — have returned from 
the hunting grounds on Little Sou'west Miramichi, after 
an absence of seventeen days. They had John Wambolt 
as tlieir guide, and brought out two fine moose, thej 
largest having a spread of 55in. with twenty points, and 
the other a measurement of 45in. with tw r enty-two 
points. 
Thomas Cox, of Fredericton, and Thomas Porter, of 
Two Brooks, Victoria county, had a short hunting trip 
the other day up the Gulquac. They brought out a 
two-year-old bull moose. 
It is difficult to secure anything like full returns fromj 
the Restigouche, where a small army of American sports 
men are now encamped. All that I have been able to 
learn is that Messrs. Grew and Gardiner, who were 
hunting with C. B. Gray, brought out three fine, moose 
heads, one of them 6oin. wide; that Dr. Rainsford, or 
Stillwater, had captured a moose and caribou; that the 
Jenkins party on the same ground had one moose and 
two caribou; that the Whiting party, on the Patepedia, 
had three moose, and the Sylvester party, on the Up- 
salquitch, two moose and two caribou. Some of these! 
were mentioned in my last communication. 
Messrs. Walter L. Pierce and E. W. Jones, of New 
York, who spent three weeks in the Gordon Brook- 
country with Frank Bartlett, of Doaktown, as guide, did 
not have quite the measure of good fortune to which 
their qualities as thorough sportsmen entitle them. They 
succeeded in downing one nice caribou, but no moose. 
Perhaps the first case of a woman shooting a moose 
occurred last week near Edmundston. The lucky lady 
was Mrs. John S. Eagles, of Saint John. 
Some light is thrown on the question of the weight ol 
a full-sized bull moose by the fact that one shot ori 
the north branch of Gibson Creek, by Edward Wil 
Hams, was brought into Woodstock and weighed, when 
dressed, 70olbs. There can be little doubt that the liv 
w r eight of this moose was full i,20olbs. 
A pedler named James McDougall had a lively ad-fi 
A'enture with a moose, while on a partridge hunt al 
Riley Brook, on the Tobique. The moose showed such 
signs of pugnacity that the pedler took to a tree. The! 
moose remained under the tree for over an hour. Mc- 
Dougall then lost his balance and fell fair upon thdj 
moose, bringing out a handful of hair. The moose ther 
concluded that the peddlar was becoming pugnaciou 
and hurriedly broke for cover, There may be twe 
sides to this story. This is the pedler's version. 
There is good moose hunting to be had within fifteer 
miles of Fredericton. Will Chestnut, who was out tc 
Bull Pasture Plains last week, to inspect the duck ponds 
saw two bull moose and a cow in the two days he wasj 
there. Moose are frequently seen at Waasis and Rust 
gornich, but are_not molested, as the hunting of moos< 
and caribou on the western side of the River St. John h 
prohibited. 
The .30-30 controversy still 'rages with great violence 
One of the warmest advocates of the handy little weapot 
last year was Dr. Bishop, of Boston. But since tin 
Doctor had to shoot six bullets into a bull caribou be< 
fore he could stop him, and since his moose walked awaj 
when he ought' to have passed in his cheeks, the Doctoi 
has been doing some of the tallest kind of thinking. 
But just here there is a shuffle in the amen corner, anc 
Deacon Sumner L. Crosby, of Bangor, arises to remark 
"By the way, I have just received twelve large cariboi 
heads from Newfoundland, all killed with the .30-30 Win 
Chester, soft nose bullet. W. L. Rice, of Cleveland 1 
Ohio, one of the sportsmen, told me that he killed 
bull caribou at 650yds. with one shot, and that three 
shots was all he fired at any of the. caribou." 
Personally, all guns look alike to me — for a side shot 
For an end shot give me lots of lead. Then again ] 
think some shots by some people don't hit sometimes. 
Frank H. Rtsteen. 
In Cerritos Blind 
Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 3. — -Editor Forest and Stream 
Nine of us assembled at the depot, all in good spirit 
and eager for a glimpse of the webfeet, for it was th< 
afternoon of Sept. 30, and on the morrow the duel: 
season was to open. For seven long months we had beet 
waiting for this very day — why then shouldn't we bt 
jolly fellows? 
There was the Insurance Man, the Lawyer, tin 
Banker, the Capitalist, the Merchant, the Real Estat. 
Man, the Judge, the Governor, and the Student, and w< 
were a three-fifths majority of a duck club of fifteei 
members — the rest couldn't come — "chained to business,.'' 
probably. 
Our destination was the preserve of the Cerritos Duel- 
Club, about fifteen miles from Los Angeles, a present 
comprising a lake somewhat over a mile long, one abou 
half a mile long, and several smaller ponds. This pre 
serve, owing to the protection afforded the birds and tlv 
abundance of feed for them, is a famous place for ducks 
and affords some of the best shooting to be had it 1 
Southern California. 
The warning clang of the engine bell sounded, an< 
we boarded the train; nine leather cases, whose out 
lines indicated their contents, were deposited in a co 
ner under the watchful eye of the Insurfnce Man — h 
own beautiful little gun was in one of them, and it t 
the apple of his eye. The train bowled along at a fail 
! 
