SBO 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tOcT. 29, 1898. 
On Ottawa Marshes. 
Cleveland, O., Oct. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
One of the members of the Ottawa Shooting Club, Mr. 
John J. Flick, was up to the marsh last week, and he 
told me that he had a fine time. Arriving at the club 
house Monday night, in time to get all his traps ready 
for Tuesday morning, he got out about daybreak and 
rowed down the Sandusky River to the mouth of Green 
Creek, then pulling his boat over the dam at the mouth 
of Green Creek, he rowed up a large body of water we 
call "Goose Pond." As he neared the upper end of the 
pond quite a large number of ducks kept getting up, 
until having reached a large rice bed at the upper end he 
decided that that was about the best place he could find 
to set out his decoys, so there he located. The ducks 
kept coming back and circling around over head, while 
he and his "punter" were getting his blind in shape. 
Having fixed everything to their satisfaction in a few 
minutes, they settled down to business. The wind was 
blowing hard from the southwest, so that the ducks 
coming right up the pond against the wind made nice 
shooting, as the wind was over the shooter's back. 
Some of the ducks, especially the widgeon and pintail, 
would swing right into the decoys, while the mallards 
and teal would pass on further, dropping into the rice. 
Well, the result was, after getting a single now and 
then, and once in a while a double on a pair of mal- 
lards trying to get by, and more often a clean miss 
with one or both barrels, by 4 o'clock in the afternoon 
he had thirty-six ducks. After picking up his decoys 
and a few ducks that had floated down the pond, he 
pulled over to Green Creek, then up the creek to "Rat- 
tlesnake" Cut, through the cut to the Sandusky River, 
and then with about a half-mile pull he. reached the 
club house, in time for a good dinner. 
On the following day, Wednesday, he located _ in 
Channel No. 1, and picked up seventeen ducks during 
the day, and then on Thursday he had a nice shoot 
again. He said that when he pulled in through Peach 
Island Cut and up Channel No. 1 and into the head of 
Channel No. 2, he put up a great flock of widgeons, and 
decided to locate in the upper end of Channel No. 2 
and try the widgeon that day. After locating on a big 
muskrat cabin, pulling out the center and getting it 
nicely lined with dry flag, and setting out his decoys all 
around it, he put in the morning there, and by noon had 
just twenty ducks. As the shooting was poorer than he 
had expected, he. pulled up and started up to the club 
house, but when opposite the "Mud Holes" just below 
"Dutch Gap" he saw an immense number of ducks 
getting up out of the "Mud Holes," and running his 
boat ashore, and he and his "punter" taking a box of 
decoys and his revolving chair, they went in and found 
one of the patrolmen feeding the ducks (in a number of 
places where the feed is not good we generally feed a 
few bushels of corn each fall). As he considered this a 
pretty good place to locate, they set out the decoys, and 
while they were thus occupied the ducks kept coming 
back and circling around, and wanted to come into the 
mud holes. The best shots at first seemed to be back 
of him, but after dropping three nice mallards in the 
tall flag, and the punter being able to find only one, he 
decided only to shoot at those flying over the pond. 
This decreased the number of shots, but by sundown the 
punter had picked up twenty-seven ducks, mallard, pin- 
tail, blue and green-winged teal and spoonbill. This 
made forty-seven ducks for the day's work, and was the 
nicest shoot of his visit. His total for the three days' 
shooting was just 100 ducks. He reports that the 
widgeon are just coming in. 
The bulk of the mallards have not come down yet, the 
weather up north has been so mild that they still stay in 
that locality. I think about another week will see them 
here in full' force. Frank B. Many, 
Gunpowder^in Brazil. 
In reply to inquiries from a New York export associa- 
tion, Consul Furniss sends to the State Department the 
following from Bahia, under date of Aug. 24: 
There is one factory in this consular district devoted 
to the manufacture of powder. This is situated in 
Cachoeira, a town of about 5,000 inhabitants, some twenty 
miles distant from here, and reached by daily boats. The 
town is on the Paraguazu River, a few miles above the 
head of the bay on which Bahia City is situated. 
I understand that the annual output amounts to about 
4,000 kegs of 25lbs. each, and that it retails at from 30 
to 40 milreis per keg. As the milreis vary each day in 
value, a definite price in United States money can not 
be given ; but to-day a milreis is worth 14.2 cents United 
States. 
The greater part of the manufacture is common black 
sporting powder; a very little of a better grade is made. 
Much of the powder is used to manufacture native fire- 
works, consisting of poor roman candles, skyrockets, 
pin wheels, and the like, for which there is great de-; 
mand. 011 account of the numerous church festivals and 
saint days, and the national and State holidays, to say 
nothing of the large amount daily and nightly used for 
private parties and receptions, or to celebrate the draw- 
ing of a prize at one of the many lotteries. 
The powder produced here does not suit the require- 
ments of the market, but, on account of the State re- 
strictions, and more particularly the municipal restric- 
tions of Bahia, and in view of the fact that this is the 
onlv port of entrance into this consular district, the 
people have to be content with that of local manufacfure, 
and the Cachoeira powder is much used in the surround- 
ing: country. 
There are no Government regulations prohibiting the 
importation of powder, but after it arrives in the harbor 
it is loaded on a Government boat and conveyed to the 
cjuay, whence it is removed to the Government maga- 
zine, about 4 miles distant; all this is at the expense of 
the importer. At this magazine the Government keeps 
a guard, and an importer making a sale is required to 
petition the chief of police of this city, who, at his dis- 
cretion, gives license for the removal of part or all of 
the quantity petitioned for. For this service the fee 
amounts to about 50 milreis ($7.10), and the petitioner 
is compelled to tell the destination of the powder to be 
withdrawn. The license for the removal is presented to 
the custom house, the duty paid, a permit received, and 
upon presentation of this to the officer in charge of the 
magazine the powder is delivered. The party purchas- 
ing from the importer must sign the receipt attached to 
the permit issued by the police, swear to it before a 
notary, and return it to the police department under 
penalty of a heavy fine for non-compliance. 
Powder, according to present regulations, may stay in 
the Government magazine until wanted; a charge of 1 
per cent, being exacted for storage, which amount is 
payable upon withdrawal. Ample storage is provided 
for any amount that may be imported. 
In the city of Bahia no powder is allowed to be kept, 
exceot in cartridges and shells for sportsmen's use; and, 
on account of the restrictions, there is only one store 
where these are handled. There are several places where 
powder can be purchased clandestinely, at prices suffi- 
ciently high to reimburse for risk run. This practice is 
indulged in by the smaller stores, where it is sold under 
the name "farinha prata," or black flour. 
On Getting Lost in the Mountains. 
Wells, Wyoming.— -Several articles have lately ap- 
peared in Forest and Stream on woodcraft, getting 
lost, etc. While it is true that the ability to find one's 
way in all sorts of weather is rather an inborn than an 
acquired instinct, still by following a few simple rules 
no one should become badly lost. 
In the first place, one should carry a general idea 
in one's head of the main streams, mountains and 
gulches. In a new or strange country this knowledge 
should be obtained at once. On the first day out of a 
new camp, keep on high ground as much as possible; 
look back frequently, so that the country will not appear 
strange when you turn back, and do not try to burden 
your mind with too many small details. Simply remem- 
ber, for instance, that if you turn to the left from the 
divide on which you are, you will come into the valley 
of the stream on which you are camped, but that if you 
turn to the right you will come clown onto a stream 
that flows in another direction. Also remember that 
your camp is near such and such a looking hill, or, bet- 
ter still, that it is in range with two mountain peaks. 
It is always better on the first day or two not to get out 
of the valley in which your camp is located, but if you 
should do so, go back the way that you came. Short 
cuts in a new country lose many a hunter. 
Always carry a compass, as there is no way of telling 
the points of compass by means of bark or branches 
that can be relied on. Remember the direction in which 
your camp is, and then if you get really lost, sit down, 
build a fire, and make a big smoke. This is supposing 
that you have companions, as no greenhorn should be 
alone in camp. They will look you up the next day, and 
it is better to sit by a fire and take it easy than it is 
to run all over the country. Every year men are lost 
in the mountains, who, if they had kept cool and sat 
down and made a smoke, would have been in camp by 
noon the next day. Instead of this they lose their heads, 
travel clear out of the vicinity of camp, and sometimes 
suffer terribly or die of starvation before being found. 
Wm. Wells. 
Are Bull Bats Game? 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have just read some remarks by your correspondent, 
Didymus, on the subject of bull bats. 
I have recently indulged in two different kinds of 
solid enjoyment, afforded by Bro. Bull Bat; the one, the 
sport afforded in shooting him — the other, that of eat- 
ing him. 
For gastronomic exercise, I don't believe any better 
material is furnished by any bird familiar to American 
shooters than the bull bat, with the possible exceptions 
of the woodcock and snipe. 
As to his capacity as mosquito destroyer, I do not 
believe that any appreciable diminution in the mosquito 
supply would ensue if all the bull bats in the world 
should suddenly go out of existence. The great mass 
of the mosquito army remain under cover in dense 
swamps, where bull bats do not resort; and those that 
go out into the open remain near the ground. I once 
spent a night at the "Jetties," at the mouth of the 
Mississippi River, and finding it quite impossible to 
sleep under a mosquito bar full of holes, I climbed 
to the top of a rude observatory, Soft, above the ground, 
and there enjoyed sweet repose, without any bar or other 
protection, until waked by the morning sun. Didymus 
found a night hawk's crop filled with flying ants; but 
what bearing has that discovery on the mosquito ques- 
tion? I once found a very large beetle in a bull bat's 
mouth. 
I have invariably observed that when bull bats first 
make their appearance, shortly after sunset, they feed 
high up in the air, much too high to shoot, and gradually 
fly lower as the evening advances, always out in the 
open, where I failed to observe that there were any 
mosquitoes for them to feed on. 
I do not believe that the bull bat is to any extent a 
factor in the great mosquito problem, and with all 
due respect to friend Didymus, in the street vernacular I 
fhink he is "off his base" on Bro. Bull Bat. 
Coahoma. 
Mississippi. 
Cape May County Game. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Surely it must be unknown to the lovers of the gun 
and feathered game that within little more than an 
hour's journey by rail from Philadelphia some of the 
finest quail and rabbit shooting in this part of the 
country is to be had, In Cape May county, the most 
southerly of New Jersey, qnail and partridges are plen- 
tiful. 
A friend who has frequently visited Woodbine, N. J., 
gives an account of large bags made in a few hours' 
sport. Rabbits are equally plentiful, and offer first-class 
sport. Woodbine boasts a clean, comfortable and 
moderate-priced hotel. 
Tea in Camp. 
In his "Canoe and Camp Cookery," Seneca has the 
following about making tea: 
"For most teas the right proportion is one teaspoon- - 
ful of tea for every tea cup that is to be drawn, and one 
'for the pot.' The simplest method of making it is to 
put cold water on the tea in the pot, set over the fire 
and let it almost boil. Just as it begins to steam, remove 
it to a place less hot, where it will simmer and not 
boil for five minutes. If it boils or simmers too long 
the tannin will be disolved, and the tea will have a 
disagreeable stringent taste. When the liquid is all 
used out of the pot, I do not throw away the grounds, 
but add one-half the quantity for the drawing, and so 
on till the 1 pot is one-third full of grounds, when it is 
all emptied and the pot thoroughly washed." 
A correspondent writes from Calcutta, India, com- 
menting on this: 
"We shall beg to correct your author of "Camp 
Cookery" as to the making of tea. Pour boiling water , 
and let it steep for one minute, if, as often happens in 
the jungle here, no milk is at hand, and pour off. Sweet- 
en extra if drunk without milk. If milk is added let it 
steep from five to seven minutes. Quantity, one tea- 
spoonful if without milk, and say one and a quarter 
teaspoonfuls if with milk. Throw away the tea leaves 
after this, unless one is hard pushed and in the jungle, 
when, if the tea is Pekoe, or any other good quality, a 
second infusion might be made, using less water than 
the first time, say a half or two-thirds as much. Do 
not drink tea "much on an empty stomach; hot, imme- 
diately after a meal, is the best." 
Hunting and War. 
An officer of the British army writes in a military 
journal in India, suggesting the value of big game 
hunting as a training for scouts in war: 
"There can be no better training than that afforded 
by organized expeditions in pursuit of big game, com- 
bined with military exercises which could be carried 
out on the march. 
"On these excursions the men would acquire the 
habit of shifting for themselves, and would learn all the 
expedients of camp life; wdflle a genuine spirit of com- , 
radeship would be established during the chase, or when 
assembled in the evening to discuss the past day's ad- 
ventures or the next day's prospects. 
"For such expeditions India offers peculiar facilities, 
abounding as it does in wild animals and varied coun- 
try. Whether amid the snows of the Himalayas, on the 
rugged mountains of the northwest frontier, or the burn- 
ing plains and highlands of southern and central India, , 
the scout would encounter danger and learn to be in- 
different to it; he would become accustomed to take his 
rifle in one hand and his life in the other, and to look 
death in the face without flinching; while hard work > 
and exposure would inure him to the vicissitudes of I 
campaigning, give him an eye for country and a facility 
for overcoming obstacles and despising difficulties, and I 
acquaint him with the inhabitants and the country over 1 
which he ranged." 
Virginia Quail. 
Chase City, Va., Oct. 12. — Editor Forest and Stream: | 
I have hunted quail in Virginia for forty y«ars, and in no 
section of the State is the hunting as good as" in the j 
county of Mecklenburg. I would recommend Chase 
City as a suitable place for Northern sportsmen to lo- 
cate. Mr. W. D. Paxton, of the Mineral Hotel, is in 
touch with all the farmers, and he has personal friends \ 
among the local sportsmen who own dogs, and take 
special pleasure in piloting visitors to the best hunt- 
ing grounds. There are more birds, turkeys and deer 1 
in the vicinity than ever before. Polk Miller, 
President Field Sports Association, Richmond, Va. 
Eastern Massachusetts. 
Danvers, Mass.. Oct. 22.— Good flight of snipe along; jj 
also the migration of woodcock seems to have com- 
menced. Coot shooting is reported good along the { 
coast. I have seen more dead raccoons hanging in the 
markets than for several seasons. Quail are reported 
plenty, but swamps are wet and leaves plenty, so not 
many are killed unless on the first rise. 
J. W. Babbitt. 
Indians as Runners. 
Gen. Crook is credited with having declared that 1 
on one occasion he saw an Apache lope 1,500ft. up the 
side of a mountain without showing the first signs of 
fatigue, there being no perceptible sign of increase of 
respiration. Capt. H, L. Scott, of the Seventh Cavalry, ' 
has related some astonishing feats performed by the 
Chiracahua Apaches forming Troop L of his regi- 
ment. He tells how nine of these Indians, after a 
hard dav's work, by way of recreation pursued a coyote 
for two" hours, captured the nimble brute, and brought 
it into camp: how, on another occasion, the scouts gave 
chase to a deer, ran it down some nine miles from camp 
and fetched it in alive. Old-timers in the Rocky Moun-j' 
tains declare that in the days before the Atlantic &|| 
Pacific Railroad was built the Puma Indians of Arizona 
would recover settlers' stray horses along the overland 
trail by walking them down in the course of two or three 
dafs. After this one may begin to believe that "Lying 
Jim" Beckwourth, whose remarkable adventures early 
in this century are preserved in book form, was a much- 
maligned man, and that he spoke no more than the j 
truth when he said he had known instances of Indian I 
runners accomplishing upward of 110 miles in one I 
day, — Chicago Chronicle. 
Mr. Lawhead — "Why^do you treat me so coldly? Why 1 
didn't you answer the note I wrote you last Thursday?" * 
Miss Brushley— "Sir, I don't wish to have anything 
more to say to you. You began your note by saying 1 
you 'thought you would drop me a line.' I want you^ 
to understand that I'm not a fish!" — Chicago News. 
