luNE 10, iSqO.1 
FOREST ANt) STREAM. 
44© 
0Hnie ^Hg mid 
Exterminatory Peregrinations. 
St. Augustine, Fla., May 29. — Editor Forest _ and 
Stream: I observe what yoii have to say in your issue 
of May 27 in comment upon the new Florida game law, 
which restricts the amount of game a person may kill in 
a year and imposes a license fee of $ro on the non-resi- 
dent shooter. You may perhaps* be sustained in your 
somewhat cynical suggestion that Ave have "locked tlie 
stable door after the horse has been stolen;" but I think 
you will grant that at least we deserve credit for having 
waked up tinallj- to the situation. We should surely have 
ycur sympathy, too, and the sympatlw of all right- 
minded sportsmen in the North, if they could realize a 
tenth of the obstacles we who are enlightened in the 
matter have had to contend against, and still are op- 
posed by, in the ignorance, indifference, obstinacy and 
animosity of our opponents. In this new law wc have 
at least something to binld upon, a foundation upon 
which in the future may be established legislation which 
shall be in every respect soirnd and eliicient to accom- 
plish the purpose we are fighting for. Visiting sports- 
men may resent the discrimination made against them. 
They should understand, however, that, as you suggest, 
we need money to enforce the law, and they should be 
willing to contribute to this end. The revenue derived 
frQm licenses is to be expended exclusively for the pur- 
pose of game protection through enforcement of the law. 
This means that the stock is to be preserved in so far 
.as obedience to the law will insure that end. .Certainly 
if the limit prescribed by the statute shall be observed 
by all shooters, both native and foreign, the fecundity of 
the birds may be depended upon to restock the covers, 
and we maj' expect a sufficient supply for years to come. 
Moreover, while I am not prepared to say that any 
spirit of hostility to the non-resident shooter had influ- 
ence in framing the law just as it is, there is a growing 
impatience at the wanton character of many of the shoot- 
ers who invade the State from the North. Indeed, when 
one considers the abominable atrocities which have been 
perpetrated in Florida by game slaughterers of what I 
may call the "Coquina" type, one marvels at the indif- 
ference, not to say complacency, with which their bloody 
exploits have been permitted to go unpunished. I have 
used the expression "of the Coquina type" because the 
practices of game butchers of this sort have been so well 
set forth by Mr. Geo. O. Shields (Coquina) in his nar- 
rative of his personal exploits in Florida. I have just 
been looking over the story of his doings here as told 
by himself, and it is worth while to recur to it, because 
it is typical of one kind of ^'sportsmen" we have had to 
deal with. 
Mr. Shields made a trip up the St. John's River and 
to the Gulf Coast. The story of the expedition is told 
in a volume which now lies before me, entitled "Hunting 
in the Great West (Rustlings in the Rockies)." While 
the bulk of the volume is given up to the record of 
slaughter of big game in the West, some chapters of it 
are devoted to an account of his Florida expedition. 
From JacksonA^lle Mr. Shields took passage up the St. 
John's River on the steamboat Georgea. Game, he tells 
us, was then abundant in all that vicinity — deer, turkeys, 
quail and alligators. 
"On the morning of the 17th,". he relates, "at 7 o'clock 
A. M. we were under way. Capt. Schoonmaker, master 
of the Georgea, informed us that we would find plenty 
of game from this point up, so we brought out our guns 
— ^Dr. W. got his shotgun and I my rifle. We took up 
our positions on the quarterdeck ready for business." 
And he was not long in getting to "business," for he 
relates : 
"'We had gone but a few miles when the ladies, who 
occupied seats in the pilot-house, shouted, 'There's an 
alligator!' We looked in the direction indicated, and 
there, sure enough, was one of the gigantic saurians 
lazily swimming across the river, some 200yds. ahead of 
the boat. The captain said they were wild, and that he 
would not let us come much closer, so I opened fire on 
him, and in quick succession landed three bullets in such 
close proximity to his eyes that he at once sank out of 
sight." 
When the next alligator was seen, after carefully ad- 
.iusting his si.afhts our sportsman put a ball "through him 
just behind the shoulder. Then there was sport! He 
gave us such a gymnastic exhibition as only a wounded 
'gator can give. He first tried to stand on his' head, then 
he tried to stand on his tail. Then apparently tried to 
turn himself wrong side out. Finally, recovering tem- 
porarily from the shock, he reached the water, and was 
lost to our sight forever." 
The satisfaction manifested here appears to have been 
based on witnessing the contortions of the wounded and 
dying creature. This gleeful enjoyment of the death 
throes of his victims is manifested on other pages of the 
volume. To witness the convulsions of pain and the 
death agonies appears to have been so pleasurable as to 
alT'ord an adequate reward for the long journey from the 
North to Florida. Alligators, however, were not the 
only objects of this slaughter waged from the deck of 
the passing steamer. The beautiful plume birds we are 
now lamenting were conspicuous in those days and of- 
fered marks which received unremitting attention. Mr. 
.Shields records: 
"During the remainder of the day we had fine sport 
shooting blue herons, white egrets, blue and white ibises, 
ducks, cormorants, coot, etc., but owin.g to the motion 
of the boat (she made about fifteen miles an hour) I 
made rather a poor score With the rifle. The Doctor 
with his shotgun did much better. Game is very abun- 
dant all along the river." 
It is not so abundant now. 
panied by a cold, driving rain that rendered the cabin 
far more comfortable than the open deck, so we oiled 
our guns and laid them away. But time did not drag, 
for the captain entertained us with many interesting 
stories of life on the St. John's. He says he frequently 
has as many as twenty-five sportsmen on board at once, 
armed with shotguns, rifles, revolvers, etc., and that they 
make sad havoc among the waterfovyls, 'gators, etc. That 
if a birds escapes the fusilade that is opened on him the 
moment he appears within range, it can be regarded as 
only a miracle. The 'gators, he told me, fare no better, 
and hundreds of each are killed every winter, and still 
there is no perceptible decrease in their number. Many 
of the latter are wounded who speedilv recover. He 
thinks there is not an alligator on the river five years old 
but_ carries 20 to 3olbs. of lead in his carcass, and he 
notices that it is very difficult for some of them to swim 
with even their noses above water, on account of the 
extra ballast they cany." 
When Mr. Shields got to the Gulf Coast he found the 
wild birds there in a condition of blissful ignorance and 
unsuspecting security, which made easy the sport of do- 
ing them to death. Going through the pine woods out 
from Manatee, Mr. Shields came to .some ponds. Of 
one, he records: 
"We saw in it a dozen or more of the large water 
birds which arc so numerous in this State. I brought 
out my rifle and bagged a beautiful white ibis. A mile 
further on we came to another pond. A large white 
egret sat near the center of it, about 250yds away. I 
drew a bead on him, let go, and he immediately sat 
down." 
"We passed a dozen or more of these ponds during 
the day, and at each of them I got a shot, making a 
very handsome bag, considering that I was 'going some- 
where' and not on a regular hunt." 
Again, in a series of ponds in tlie open pine woods, he 
tells us, "We found plenty of the large water birds so 
numerous in this State. We took an occasional shot at 
them when one offered a tempting mark aftd bagged 
a large number during the day." 
So much for the Florida plume birds, whose destruc- 
tion we have all of us been making so much ado over 
and blaming the millinery hunters for exterminating. 
There were alligators on the coast, too, and &ur sports- 
man reaps new honors in his warfare waged upon them. 
He appears to have come to Florida as a modern St. 
George, imbued with a ferocious determination to find 
here the Dragon worthy of his lead. "I was thirsting 
for the blood of a 'gator," he tells us. But he was not so 
thirsty for 'gator blood as to disdain a "fine young doe," 
upon which he drew a bead and "she doubled up." Nor 
were the garfish swimming in the creek beneath his at- 
tention. He tells us, "We saw large numbers of garfish 
sporting in the sunHght. We shot a few of them merely 
for pastime." You see, he had come to Florida for 
pastime, and Florida, in its Humble way, was trying to 
afford pastime. 
But the alligators were the real "game" the expedition 
was after, and the saurians were found in the creek which 
was the destination of our hunting party. 
"One of them stuck his head out of' the water, where- 
upon Capt. S. ga\;e him a charge of buckshot in the 
vicnnty of the eye and ear. He lashed the water into 
a foam in his gyrations, and sank out of sight, probably 
mortally wounded. Presently another one puts his eye 
out of water to look at us. He was near the opposite 
shore, perhaps Soyds from where we sat. I let go at 
him. and although I scored a palpable hit, did not kill 
him." 
The actions of a wounded alligator are described viv- 
idly, and with gusto. Mr. Shields gives us this lesson in 
the torture of reptiles: 
"A 'gator always tells you, unerringly, whether you 
have killed or only wounded him. If wounded, he 
plunges and thrashes around at a lively rate for a few 
seconds, and sinks out of sight; but if killed dead he per- 
forms about the same series of evolutions, turns on his 
back and dies, remaining on top. of the water." 
And he goes on to tell about what happened when he 
got himself fairly in action: 
"The smoke had scarcely cleared away after my last 
shot, when a third 'gator looked up near us. and instant- 
ly caught a right fielder in his left eye, that turned him 
over. We then supposed we had made it so warm for 
them that no others would show themselves for a while, 
so we started down the stream. The Captain and I had 
gone a little ahead, Avhen Jack, who had not yet started, 
called to us, and said: 'Here's another 'gator.' I went 
back, and there, sure enough, was an old fellow swim- 
ming along down the creek as unconcernedly as though 
he had never heard the report of a gun in his life. 'l 
waited until he came within about 50ft. of me, and then 
gave him one in the leeward optic. He turned two or 
three somersaults, and stopped on his back with one 
forefoot sticking out of the water. We left him there as 
a warning to his kind." 
"As we were now thoroughly sated with this class of 
sport," he concludes this interesting episode, "we re- 
turned home." 
We Floridians are frequently accused of being indo- 
lent and lazy; and when your true sportsman from the 
North came among us in those days he set us an example 
of energy and assiduity and industry M'hich should have 
put us to shame. There are only twenty-four hours in 
a day here in Florida, as further North, and the short 
twilight gives quick place to a rapidly falling night. 
The days are not long enough for the activities of sports- 
men of the Coquina stripe. Mr. Shields' book tells us 
that his nights were well employed. One night would 
be spent in fishing for sharks by means of set lines, 
hauling them in to butcher in the morning; another 
night in fire-lighting for deer with buckshot; another 
night m spearing fish by firelight. 
within range of them. They heard me before I reached 
the point, however, and plunged into the water. I 
stepped behind a neighboring pine tree and waited a 
few minutes for them to come up. I did not have to wait 
long. One of thera arose to the surface looyds. below me. 
T did not molest him, for I thought I could do better. In a 
few minutes the other put his eyes out of the water near 
the opposite bank, not more than Soyds away. I looked 
through my globe sight, saw bis great black eye glisten 
in the sunhght, and pulled. He doubled up, and his 
back came out of the water until he formed a great half 
circle. Then he went down, and next his head and tail 
came out approaching each other until they almost met. 
Then he disappeared again, and at once reappeared, 
doubled and twisted into an almost indistinguishable 
mass. When he unfolded himself this time he remained 
on top of the water, lying on his back, and then I knew 
that he was dead." 
Our admiration is compelled by the thoroughness with 
Avhich Mr. Shields quartered his ground. Our admira- 
tion or disgust; it depends upon how vtQ look at such 
things. 
All was game that had life and lacked sense to know he 
"was loaded" and to keep out of range of him. Going 
through a tract of pine woods, he tells us, the "'monot- 
ony was relieved by ponds scattered along the entire dis- 
tance, at each of which we .got a shot or two at the large 
water birds which always hover around them"; (paren- 
thetically, they don't hover so much as they did before 
Coquina passed that way). "This is indeed the happy 
hunting ground— the sportsman's paradise," he tells us 
as he found it. There is not much paradise about it now 
except for an occasional turkey buzzard. 
And even those nocturnal creatures which hide in 
caverns and hollows were not permitted to escape his 
keen scent for game. The party was camped one even- 
ing, when: 
"Jack started to the river to get water for our coffee, 
and as he passed the end of a large hollow log that lay 
a few feet from the fire, he heard a slight noise in it. We 
cut a stick and passed it in, when we found there was 
'something alive in it,' as Dundreary says of his hat. 
We put a bundi of dry moss in the opening and set fire 
to it. In a few minutes a 'possum came tumbling out 
through the fire, and old Rover, who stood there waiting 
for him. made short work of him." 
I shall always regard that picture of a burned 'possum 
tumbling out through the flames into the jaws of the dog 
as one of the fiinest things in the literature of true sport 
as it is here literatured by Mr. Shields. 
That same night a great owl, all unsuspecting the 
explosive character of the strangers who had invaded his 
wilderness haunt, ventured to perch on a limb above the 
camp. It was his last perch. The owl went the way of 
the plume birds, alligators and 'possums. The next day 
"while we were at supper, a large 'gator raised his head 
in the middle of the river opposite our tent. I sent a 
message from 'old reliable,' and in an instant more he 
was lashing the water into a foam, minus an eye." 
Judging from his own record, as given by himself in 
this account, Mr, Shields counted the success of a shoot- 
ing trip by the amount of torture he was able to inflict 
upon his victims, and the success of a fire-fishing trip 
by the number of fish taken or the pounds they weighed. 
One night when he was fire-fishing with a party sticking 
fish with spears, he records with exultation, "We killed 
over loolbs. of fish during the two or three hours we 
were out." Again, "We returned to the house about 9 
o'clock, having taken over 6olbs. of fish." This Florida 
fishing, however, really did not amount to much, com- 
pared with the scores made by Mr. Shields, which Mr. 
Shields here records with exclamation marks, as having 
been made by himself and friends in Michigan, among 
them an "afternoon's catch iSolbs. of fish!" Again, 
"Total catch for the day weighed 2iolbs." Again, "They 
also brought in a fine string of bass, making the day's 
catch weight in all 24olbs., and the grand total for the 
three days 62olbs." 
While we are in Michigan I may be permitted to 
quote an illuminating paragraph from his account of a 
little excursion in that State, as given in this same book. 
.•\fter having formed the night before one of a party 
which had headed off a deer, driven into the water by 
hounds, and killed it by a ball in the head as it was 
swimming for the shore, in the morning he went on 
board the little steamer Northern Belle to go to Cheboy- 
gan. 
"The captain informed Us," he writes, "that we would 
probably see plenty of ducks, loons, etc., on the trip, so 
we brought out the 'hunter's pet' rifle and enjoyed some 
very fine sport, shooting from the bow of the vessel. 
Several ducks were taught the folly of exposing them- 
selves to the unerring aim of some of our crack shots. 
A small diver was killed by an unusually long shot, sev- 
eral on board pronouncing the distance at least 200yds. 
.'V woodduck was cut down on the wing as he crossed 
the channel about 40yds. away. Several others were 
killed as they sat in the water, and all while the boat was 
in motion, making, altogether, a rather remarkable score 
lor a morning's shooting with the rifle." 
The pictures painted of these practices of Coquina and 
his fellow sportsmen are very vivid, and if ani^one won- 
ders at the present condition of our Florida rivers com- 
parjed with what then existed of the wild life peopling 
them, he may find his perplexity fullv satisfied in such 
paragraphs as this: 
".\ brisk 'norther' was blowing this morning, accom- 
But the main purpose of this expedition, if we may 
judge from the amount of space given to it, was the alliga'- 
tor. I quote again: 
"Presently I saw two lying on a low grassy bank away 
up the creek, sunning themselves and looking like great 
black logs. I drew back again and proceeded as quietly 
as possible to a bend in the creek that would brino- me 
But to come back to our own Florida. I have not pre- 
tended to give all of the game slaughtering exploits here 
recounted, for I liesitate to trespass upon your space 
It is evident from the widespread death and destruction 
which followed in his wake, and from the prodigious 
rain of ammunition erupted by him, so to speak as he 
passed through our pine barren and hammocks, and 
along our water courses, that Mr. Shields must have 
been heavily loaded with powder and ball and buckshot, 
He does not give us the details of his armament, but 
we may get some hint of it from this advice he gives in- 
tending Florida tourists as to how'they should fit them- 
selves out before invading our devoted land: 
"A shotgun and rifle wifl both be needed, though a 
cylinder-bore shotgun and supply of buckshot cartridges 
in addition to the supply of small shot may answer all 
purposes. The greater need of the rifle is for the larger 
game, which frequently ofl^ers long-range shots where a 
sliotgun is entirely useless, and if the sportsman be a 
clever rifle shot he should ahvays provide himself with 
both. 
"A large supply of ammimition should be provided for 
