210 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ISekt. 9, iSgo. 
Sometimes it would be fighting them; sometimes rmmiiig 
around the old cow, becoming so frisky that I made sev- 
eral throws at it, but missed. Finally Scrapper nipped it 
so sharply it sought other protection, and came bound- 
ing over to me. I was sure it had selected me to take 
vengeance on, and made readj^ to jump aside to let it pass, 
but it ran to my left side, and as it did so I whirled 
around and laid the noose over its head without throwing 
il at all. 
"As soon as it winded me it darted tOAvard the old cow, 
jerking me headlong in the snow; but the dogs were after 
it, so it came bounding back. Mr. Rea grabbed it as it 
endeavored to pass between us, and threw it. I was soon 
on its neck; its legs were quickly bound like the others. 
Our dogs were then whipped off and made to lie down. 
I was completely exhausted, and was obliged to ask Mr, 
Rea to go to camp, half a mile away, and bring some 
water. He brought a small pail of cold tea, which re- 
vived me very much. Before leaving for the tea, however, 
he put an end to the cow's misery by sending a ball 
through her vitals. 
"We had not taken time to size the animals up, and it 
was a very interesting hour of my life when I could 
quietly stand and see CA'ery twinkle of their eyes. The 
long shaggy fleece that covered the little creatures was of 
a browner color than that on the old bulls. They looked 
more like doll animals than like real live musk-oxen. 
Their short legs made me liken them to a little Shetland 
pony colt as compared with a raceliorse. They had a 
tuft of long hair on the shoulders and also on their 
necks. The males had small shai'p horns that pointed 
straight out from the side of tlie head and protruded 
about an inch through the thick mat of hair; while the 
females' horns were not visible at all, yet could be felt 
beneath the clump of hair. Though they seemed dimin- 
utive, they were deceiving in size and weight of their 
bodies. I had seen several of different ages, mounted in 
museums; but it is evident the taxidermist never had seen 
one alive, or these specimens would have been filled out 
more plumply, and their bodies taken almost exactly the 
shape of a barrel. The very little nutrition contained in 
the moss compels them to gorge themselves until they 
have assumed an abnormal shape. These Ave captiu'ed 
really resembled a domestic yearling calf in the .spring- 
time, that has been wintered at a strawstack. 
*''We now commenced to gather up the captives. We 
first took our long hemp rope, and tied five loops in it 
about 12ft. apart; we then fastened each end of this rope 
to large rocks, and drew it quite tightly. From the loops 
a small rope was attached, at the end of which was a 
swivel, which in turn was fastened to the small rope 
around the animal's neck, in order to prevent tangling 
or choking to death. While marching our yearlings up to 
the anchor line, we loosened only two of their legs, but 
when they were securely fastened to it, gave them the free- 
dom of all their limbs, and the way they made the long 
line jerk and whirl for an hour or more was amusing. It 
was so long, however, that it relaxed at every surge of the 
animals, thus preventing the possibility of injuring, that 
would have otherwise occurred, as it yielded to every 
effort in their attempt to escape. I had handled buffalo 
so often that my premeditated plans for the capture of 
musk-oxen were very easy for us to put into execution. 
"We moved our teepee over to the south side of the hill, 
within about looft. of one end of the anchor line, and 
watched the frisky little captives endeaAforing to regain 
their freedom, until the sun had sunk in the Avest. 
"No sooner had the king of day passed beyond our 
vision than we heard a pack of AVolves just over the 
ridge. We knew Avhat it meant— no sleep for us that 
night. As there Avas plenty of meat lying a little to the 
southeast of «s, we had hoped they would be content to 
let us alone. Not so, however. It appeared as if they had 
not found the carcasses of animals avc had killed, but drew 
nearer and nearer our little live ones, evidently wanting 
meat they had themselves killed. 
"As night advanced the ravenous messengers of death 
came on. Our dogs Avere loosened upon the supposition 
they Avould be in no danger as long as Ave remained out- 
side with them, but little Scrapper^ one of our best 
shepherd heelers, anxious to measure his strength with 
them, dashed over the divide after one, where he had a 
"scrap" that the poor fellow hardly anticipated; that 
was the last we ever .saw of him. Doubtless he was de- 
voured in a minute by the pack we knew he had en- 
countered. 
"It was warm and pleasant that evening, compared with 
others we had experi^.nced; so I took my stand at the 
iti'd of the rope furthest from our teepee; Mr. Rea at the 
other. We both had our guns and plenty of cartridges, 
and one by one Ave rolled the Avhite monsters OA'^er as they 
appeared. We never pretended to shoot Avhen they were 
more than 40yds. away. Sometimes they would come 
singly, then in howling groups, tAvo to a dozen in the 
pack. 
"All night long — about nine hours of darkness — the 
crazy fools would trot up to be slaughtered; most of them 
running as soon as shot, unless Ave put a ball in their head 
or breast. Those wounded would drag themselves aAA^ay, 
to be instantly devoured by the others. When morning 
came they were just as numerous as during the night, and 
the siin was high in the heavens before they commenced 
to skulk away or attempt to get under cover. About 
noon Ave determined to try to get out of the horrid place. 
We had killed tAvelve wolves outright, and twice as many 
more, wounded, had gone off, to be devoured by their 
companions. 
"We tied one end of our anchor line to the carryall, I 
walking behind, holding the other. We set our only 
.shepherd dog at heeling the yearlings up, as they were 
Very stubborn at first, refusing to be led; but Avithin 
an hour Ave succeeded in cooling them down somewhat. 
We fixed hackimos* in the mouths of our animals, so they 
could not pull very hard on the line, which saved me 
many upsets." 
When the start was made, some of the animals pulled 
back on their haunches and stopped the whole train. At 
this juncture all I had to do was to point my finger at the 
refractory animal, when Don would f^y at them, nipping 
their heels, at which they would take a spurt forward and 
I be pitched headlong in the sloppy snow; then they 
* Hackimo, a headstall made with the rope after one end Is fas- 
tened around the neck so that it passas through the animal's 
mouth, whereby it can be held with but little effort. 
would change ends in order to fight the dog. Sometimes 
the animals would become tangled in the line; the hind 
one in front and the front one behind. It Avas certainly 
discouraging. If Ave undertook to untangle them Ave were 
sure to receive a butt or tAVO that Avould send us rolling 
over. My shins that night were "as black as the ace of 
spades." 
* * * ^ *. ^ .-I: :1: * * 
We again slept during tlie middle of the day, and about 
3 o'clock started on our journey. We reeled off from 
fifteeii to eighteen miles during the day, and had the 
yearlings so subdued that they gave us much less trouble 
than on the previous days. The day had been dark and 
cloudy, and the wolves appeared much earlier than on the 
day previous, having no doubt followed us from the last 
camp. We did not have more than a dozen cartridges 
left, and depended upon our guns alone for meat for our- 
selves and dogs. The situation began to look serious. 
Our bread had been all gone for two AA^eeks. We battled 
all night Avith the wolves and managed to keep them 
"from tlie door," and from devouring our animals. The 
weather tuimed quite warm during the night: we were 
having an old-fashioned January thaw, and all the musk- 
oxen Avorked diligently, filling themselves Avith such prov- 
ender as they could paAV out. The Avounded one ap- 
peared convalescent and refreshed. We had secured two 
bulls and three heifers, and were now in high spirits over 
our golden prize; yet dreaded our possible fate, on ac- 
count of the constant pursuit of the wolves and our short 
stipply of cartridges. 
■ We were off early that morning, bearing directly south 
for Doobaunt River, as only a fcAv sticks of Avood Avere 
left Avith which to cook meat and to melt snow for water 
to quench our thirst and refresh our exhausted bodies. 
We expected certainly to reach timber the next day. 
About II o'clock Ave halted, having worried along fully 
ten miles that morning. Here, after taking a slight lunch 
and drinking cold tea that we carried in a rubber bag 
(the life preserver I bought at Edmonton), Ave rolled up 
in our blankets, and I was soon dreaming of my far-away 
sunny home in Oklahoma. About 3 o'clock Mr. Rea woke 
up and Avent out to look after our animals. He returned 
and said, "Jones, we are ruined! .some one has killed all 
our musk-oxen. They have cut their throats !" I awoke 
from my happy dreams, and thought him only joking. I 
raised the side of the tent, looked out, and saAV it Avas too 
true ! Then my heart that had been throbbing so buoy- 
antly with joy in the past few days sank within me; a 
dizziness seemed to come over me, and I fell back on my 
blankets and Avas soon lost in a deep slumber. Mr. Rea 
said afterAvard that it Avas quite difficult to arouse me 
again. 
We went out and inspected the situation of affair.'^. 
There had been twelve or fifteen Eskimos or Indians there 
on snow.shoes, and they had cut the tliroats of all of our 
animals, leaving them lying dead with the ropes around 
their necks. We had only one dog (Don) left that Avould 
bark at the appearance of Indians, and he was so badly 
mangled by the woh'es he could scarcely heel up tlie 
animals on the marches, and we had alloAved hini a cari- 
bou skin inside the tent to sleep on. Had he been outside, 
doubtless he Avould have given the alarm, and we Avould 
haA^c saA'ed tlic yearlings, or shared their fate ourseh-es. 
The marauder.s left a peculiar-looking knife on the snow 
near the animals, having a handle about i8in. long, made 
of caribou or some other animal's rib, or tusk, with a 
blade 4in. long, riveted to the large end of the bone. If 
we had knoAvn whether this knife handle was from a land 
or sea animal, I could have decided Avho had committed 
the dastardty deed — Indians or Eskimos. If it belonged 
to a sea animal, it Avould implicate the Eskimos; if to a 
caribou, more than likely the Indians. 
We foUoAved the snoAVshoe tracks for nearly four miles 
and discovered tliat the party had been following our trail 
and had retreated by the' same route. We returned to 
our camp sad and Aveary, not able to tell if they were Es- 
kimos or Indians. Apparently Ave Avere on the neutral 
grounds lietween the hunting fields and these tAA^o savage 
tribes. We had been Avarncd time and time again by the 
Indians not to take any musk-oxen alive, but had paid no 
attention to them, as we were well armed, and knew they 
were cowardl}' and dare not open fire on us. We expected 
to guard our animals day and night Avhile passing through 
the enemj'-'s country. It did not enter our minds that 
there Avas an Indian A\'ithin 200 miles of us, and Ave did 
not suspect the Eskimos of such treachery. We were so 
worn out and depressed in spirits that we rolled up in 
our blankets and slept until night was fully on, when we 
Avere awakened by the dogs barking and running around 
the teepee, occasionally screaming as though they were 
being devoured. We soon saw the Avolves were closing 
in on them, and called all the dogs into the teepee. Then 
Ave took turns in keeping Avatch, in fear of being de- 
stroyed, as Ave had no cartridges to Avaste. 
Aker the failure of the expedition, as above detailed. 
Col. Jones and Mr. Rea proceeded to Fort Reliance, and 
from there by long and difficult journeyings crossed the 
mountain, reached the A\raters of the Yukon, and at last 
took a steamer, which landed them in Seattle. 
Col. Jones had been absent from home between fifteen 
and sixteen months, and it may be imagined that he was 
glad to return, and that his family were glad to see him. 
Camp-Fire Rules. 
The New York Fisheries, Forest and Game Commis- 
sion fixed these rules for the conduct of campers and 
others on the State land: 
Fires for clearing land near a forest must not be started 
until the trees are in full leaf. Before lighting such fires 
three days' notice, at least, must be given to the fire 
warden and occupants of adjoining lands. After such 
fires are lighted, competent persons must remain to guard 
them until the fire is completely extinguished, and the 
persons starting such fires will be held responsible for all 
damages, notwithstanding notice has been given to the 
fire wardens. 
Fires will be permitted for the purposes of cooking, 
warmth and insect smudges; but before such fires are 
kindled, sufficient space around the spot where the fire is 
to be lighted must be cleared from all combustible ma- 
terial; and before the place is abandoned, fires so lighted 
must be thoroughly quenched. 
All fires, other than those hereinbefore mentioned, arci 
absolutely prohibited. | 
Hunters and smokers are cautioned against alloAVing, 
fires to originate from the use of firearms, cigars and 
pipes ; and all persons are warned that they will be held' 
responsible for any damage or injury to the forest whiclr 
may result from their carelessness or neglect. 
Girdling and peeling bark from standing trees is pro- 
hibited. Fallen timber only may be used for fire wood.' 
Fish and game protectors . and foresters, fire Avardens 
and all citizens are requested to report to the Fish, Gamq 
and Forest Commissioners immediately all cases which' 
may come to their knowledge, of damage or injury toi 
forest trees arising from a violation of these rules. 
By order of the Fish, Game and ForeSt Commission. \ 
B. H. Davis, President. ' 
Sportsmen and so Forth. j 
Editor Forest and Stream: - 
That which wc call a sportsman by any other na.me; 
might tell as much. It includes the following : 
The man Avho ahvaj^s thinks his guides are over paid 
and Avho striA-es to beat them doAvn to the ultimate nickel. 
The man who, having engaged his guides, fails to come 
and never thinks of whacking up for the loss and disap- 
pointment he has caused. 
The man who loses his nerve, misses his game and then! 
condemns his gun. 
The man Avho is morbidly suspicious that guides, hotel, 
men and all parties concerned are putting up a job of some 
kind for his benefit. 
The man who lies aWake at night planning how to cir- 
cumvent or get ahead of his brother sportsman. 
The man who fires at the moving bush. 
The man who revels in the destruction of animal life — 
who never knows Avhere to stay his hand in the presence, 
of game. 
The man Avho stands proudly before the camera with his 
game trophy or string of fish and Avants to knoAv: "Who 
can beat this?" 
The man who is always performing for the grand 
stand, claiming to have' shot the biggest moose andi 
caught the biggest fish on record. 
The man Avho goes home in triumph Avith the game his 
guide has shot and outrivals Ananias. 
Verily, the only true sportsmen are they who remain at 
home and read Forest and Stream. 
Pessimist. 
Fkedericton, N. B., Aug. 28. ,| 
New Hampshire Deer. 
DuNJJARTON, N. H., Aug, 31. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I recently, wrote an account of a deer and a 
l)icycle, and spoke of the frequency of deer being seen in 
this A'icinity. Nearly every day recently some one speaks 
of seeing one or more deer on our roads. A fcAv days 
since, one afternoon I Avent to a meadcAv a fcAV minutes' 
walk from my house. I had an idea I might see a deer or 
two. The first thing I saw on reacliing the edge of the 
meadoAV was a fine looking doe standing in the brook 
looking at me some 50yds. away. She stood perfectly 
.still for some time, and then, as I moved a step or so 
nearer, she jumped out of the brook and Avith tail high 
sailed across the meadoAV, stopping again on the edge and 
looking back until I Avaved my hand, when she went into 
the Avoods, There Avas evidently a fawn somcAvhere near 
tiie doe I saw, as I found quite fresh tracks. 
A fcAV days since, some two miles from here, one of 
my neighbors Avas looking after some cows, Avhen he ran 
onto a young buck. The deer started to ran and came 
against a wnrc fence, falling over on his back, but Avas up 
and aAvay in an instant, 
Mr, Wentworth, of our Fish and Game Commission, is 
very energetic in looking up all cases of reported deer 
killing, and our deer are pretty safe. Some of our old 
croakers, hoAvever, are starting the old story, saying, "If 
them deer get much thicker thej'- Avill be eating up our 
crops." I hardly think we need to Avorry for some time on 
that account. C. M. Stark. 
Proprietors of fishing and hunting resorts will find it profitable - 
to advertise them in Forest and Streau. 
Autopsies of Salmon. 
Last year the Scotch Fishery Board published a very 
scientific and interesting series of papers on "The Life 
History of the Salmon," the details having been carried 
out by several of the best-known physicians in Edin 
burgh in the laboratories of the Royal College of Physi 
cians. The pith of these observations is that the salmon 
ceased to feed before he came into the estuaries, and in 
addition he is said. to suffer from acute catarrhal con 
ditions of the stomach and intestines. The experience 
of all sportsmen in riA'ers will bear out the truth of the 
fact that salmon do not feed in rivers — that is, do no 
feed as they evidently do in the sea. 
I have been examining salmon stomachs ever since 
this report was issued; last autumn on the Upper Shan- 
non on chiefly large grilse, this spring on a few odd fish 
from the Hampshire AA'on and the Dart, and all through 
the spring and summer on fish taken from the nets and 
sold in Billingsgate. More than 150 of these latter fi=h 
have been examined by naked eye inspection after freely 
opening the digestive tract from pharynx to anus. 
The abstruse and extremely scientific examinations b}- 
the Scotch physicians made it very advi.sable to use naked 
eye inspections over very many cases, and aboA'e all to 
notice the interior of the digestive organs of other fish, as 
it at once struck one on reading the Scotch report that 
the observers had applied all their knoAvledge of the 
microscopical appearances of pathological (disease) states 
in human beings to explain what they found in micro- 
scopical examinations of the salmon. Simple reasoning 
would suggest that if salmon do not feed afj^r entering 
the rivers, of necessity the conditions of the digesttA'-e 
