^PT. 16, i899.1i 
FOREST AND STREAM 
rs ot ihe party will care to stay for an actual sporting 
ip, but any who wish to return earlier will be always 
ithm reach of the railway, and will be taken out at any 
ne they wish. Reports at this time are that there have 
en heavy rains m upper Minnesota, and the waters are 
?h, but It will be much later when the expedition reaches 
e woods, and by that time the conditions are likely to be 
iproved, and the season should prove a very delightful 
^- , E. Hough. 
80 Caxton Building, Chicago, 111. 
A Boer Hunter's Farm. 
The Boers are well known as expert hunters and won- 
rful shots. Their range of vision Is extraordinary. We 
ote from the London Field the following account of a 
iit to a Boer hunter's farm, which has double interest 
cause It illustrates so well the fact that the experience 
South Africa parallels so closely that of North Amer- 
. in the destruction of the game species of animal life: 
Hearing that the "Fiatfontein" hunters had returned 
)m their annual trip into the hunting veldt, I decided to 
ilk over to their farm and see the young game which 
;y had captured. To those unacquainted with South 
rica I would say that the Boers hunt in winter (.May to 
igust), as it is then dry and cool. No rain falling 
ring this season, it is consequently healthy; they get 
:k to their farms before the wet summer season begins. 
Dn the morning of my projected trip I rose early, and 
;er a cup of coffee and a light repast started off across 
; veldt in company with a Dutch-speaking friend. It 
,s the South African spring ; the vast plain, so lately dry 
d brown, was now covered with the young green grass ; 
! trees were sending forth their leaves, and their blooms 
ed the warm air with perfume. The insect world, nur- 
■ed by the hot sun, was full of life and activity, and 
;_ry here and there that intense whirring note was heard 
ich is given forth by that insect so familiar to dwellers 
tliis vast land, and which, although so piercing to the 
■, seems to harmonize with the quivering air of the 
rican summer day. 
\fter a long walk we reached the top of the gradually 
ing plain, and saw before us, in the distance, the white 
lis of the Boer's house, close to which ran the small 
earn dignified by the name of river — a little shallow 
ulet of water, seemingly engaged in the hard task of 
•eading its way through the loose sand in the-river bed, 
1 forming here and there sma'i pools, drinking places of 
trusty trek ox. 
int what are these — these brown-looking animals feed- 
leisurely away to our right? I look at my companion, 
uahhas," says he, and slightly altering our course, we 
d on with quickened steps to pass close by thetn ; as we 
nearer we can make out the stripes encircling their 
idsome forms. There are twenty of them all told, 
m the handsome full-grown black and white stallion to 
: yearling filly with her thick soft jacket tinged with 
iwn. They look at us unconcernedly, moving a few 
:es out of our way. Roaming at large on the plains 
did their forebears before them, the halter and '"reim" 
h which each is fettered shows that they have accepted 
inevitable, and have come under the sway of the ever- 
riching human, not, however, without a sharp 
glc in some far-off bush veldt. As we jump the clear 
icr at its narrowest part, we note an unusual activity 
the six acres or so of cultivated ground, which is as 
1 of the thousand or two acres which he possesses as 
Boar thinks it necessary to cultivate. 
This disturbance is caused by the unseemly invasion 
a small army of young locusts, not long hatched, and 
;o seem bent on devouring the small patch of succulent 
:en stuff, the year's handiwork of the industrious Boer. 
%nheer has armed himself with a long pole with a 
? at the end, and, together with attendants similarly 
ned, is flapping the ground and diverting the stream of 
usts into the hard pathway along which they clank, for 
the world like a Liliputian regiment of cavalry, 
^fter exchanging salutations with Mynheer by rais- 
: our hats, ray friend discourses with him about the 
usts. Mynheer is grave; the locusts are one of the 
gttes sent by the Almighty, it would be useless to at- 
jpt to destroy them — nay, it would be courting further 
aster ':o enter into competition with the All Powerful, 
or expressing these views, and calling to the kaffirs 
l ip tlieir weapons vigorously, he turns, and walks with 
jo his house. 
tis we pass along we come to a shed near which are ly- 
■ six young eland calves, all bulls ; these are all very 
mg animals, and in poor condition. One cannot 
igme their growing into the mighty animals the old 
d bulls are. They have traveled from afar, and keep 
been scarce on the road home ; however, they will 
n pick up, and are, I believe, all already sold. A elat- 
ing of hoofs, and a young Boer rides by on a black 
ding. "Salted," says my friend, "and worth £6o, for 
has galloped down much live game." But neither his 
m nor his paces fill the eye, and from the English point 
ooks he appears decidedly dear at the price. 
Ve now enter the abode of our host. This consists of a 
Iding of mud walls, which look red and hard ; the roof 
"hatch; it is refreshingly cool inside, but rather em- 
rassing. as the room has an excessively large table, and 
Towded with Dutchmen, no less than seven tpen, and 
3 two stout ladies. 
)ne has to struggle round the table, shaking hands with 
h person in the most phlegmatic and insipid manner, 
mbling over the legs of the others meanwhile. At 
gth I subside into an antique chair, and sit. hot and 
cward, while the company present sit and stare hard at 
despised "Roinek." Although I am of quite medium 
i at home, I feel conscious that each Boer present — 
, and woman also — ^looks capable of overcoming two 
h as myself. 
iftev a tedious h,i1f-hour, we sally forth again, and 
sing round the end of the house, "come upon a small 
slope calf, b'ing resting on the ground, tethered to a 
ill outhouse. This, our host tells us. is, a "Moff 
tebecste" (Anglice, Lichtenstein hartebeeste) , which 
es the place of the ordinary kind (Khama) in South- 
fc -Africa. This little fellow looks well, is suckled by a 
ir. and our. host expects to get a good price for' it. 
;hered out on the veldt some "distance from the house 
two outcasts, a pair of young spotted hvenas, com- 
tily misnamed "wolves" by the colonists. These niiser- 
ables, tied to pegs driven in the ground with short chains, 
have no protection from the hot sun, and lie panting, 
snarling, and parched. At our suggestion a screen is put 
up for them to keep oft' the sun. 
We now bid adieu to our host, and walk on to the farm 
of another hunter, where we see two koodoos and three 
"knnghats" (water bucks), as well as some more elands 
and quahhas. I may mention here that these latter are a 
variety of the Burchell's zebra, all of which are always 
rnisnamed quah-ha by the Dutch, and quah-ka by the Eng- 
lish. The true quagga is extinct. 
On our way home again we pass close bv some yearling 
swart vet pens (black, white belly, i. e., sable antelope). 
We linger and watch these animals, one of the handsomest 
species of the antelope tribe, and in my estimation the 
best flavored. I shall never forget the dinner I made off a 
young bull after a two months' diet of tinned meat and 
coarse bread ; but enough ! Let us return to the specimens 
before us. One little fellow comes up to the wire to in- 
spect us, and as we push our hands through and stroke his 
horse-hke quarters, lowers his head and capers around 
shaking his short horns wickedly, reminding one that in 
a couple of years he will be a gentleman best kept at a 
distance. 
These live things, survivors of a rapidly decreasing 
race, are only here saved from their usual fate of being 
slaughtei ed and eaten on the veldt, from the fact that the 
Boers have discovered that they are much more valuable 
alive than dead, and are eagerly sought after by dealers 
for sale to European zoos. In setting out on their annual 
trips the Boers require, for the capture of these animals, 
•some good horses which have had the sickness from which 
so few recover, and which are then termed "salted." 
Some milch cows for suckling very young animals are 
also desirable, and generally taken. When a herd of 
antelopes or zebras is sighted, some sharp work follows — 
hard gallops, perhaps, through thorns and bush, or over 
rodcy ground, till the younger members of the herd are 
overtaken and run to a standstill, when they are secured 
with ropes or reims. After a struggle they be-come sub- 
dued ; and I have seen young zebras caught in the morn- 
mg walkuig loose in the evening among horses, donkeys 
and other zebras, and allowing one to come up and touch 
them. I often wonder why Englishmen in Africa did not 
buy up and save in their own native wilds these rare and 
grand animals before it became too late. They could 
have been_ bred to good profit, to say nothing of the bene- 
ht of saving them as ornaments for future generations. 
However, although some suppose us to be a nation of 
sportsmen, we have allowed this destruction to take place 
until all, or nearly all, are exterminated; a sorry record, 
indeed, of our boasted sporting instincts to be handed 
down to posterity. 
And now a long trudge homeward. Why is it that one 
generally walks over these far-reaching plains in silence? 
Is it that the mind is dominated by this far unending 
land, this land which stretches away on every side with 
vague sameness, and over which one walks always straight 
ahead, so dift'erent from the ever-changing rambles in the 
laines of the old country? ICaffirland. 
Maine September Deer. 
Boston, Sept. g. — The boys are still making some very 
good scores on shore birds. L. W. DePass was down to 
his camp at Plum Island over Labor Day, and made a 
score of twenty-three beetleheads and chicken plover. 
He also secured fully half a hundred small birds. His 
partner in the camp, C. W. Hodgkins, came up from the 
same place Wednesday. He had made a score of ninety 
birds in his stay of a week. Both gunners sav that "We 
struck it just right this time." L. J. DePass' is turning 
out to be a gunner, like his father, L. W. DePass. Though 
only twelve years of age, his father has bought him a nice 
little .i6-gauge, of which he is very proud. He has lately 
made a trip to Plum Island, and shot about fifty birds. 
He is a wing shot, taking two green heron when flying. 
But not all of the best shooting is done with either 
rifle or shotgun. The camera is coming more and more 
into play, in that direction. Mr. J. G. Menzier, of New 
York, a visitor to Maine woods and waters for many 
seasons, has recently visited Boston on his way from his 
summer outing of seven or eight weeks. He went up the 
West Branch of the Penobscot and down the St. John 
waters. With his guide he saw t,000 deer, and then 
stopped countmg them. He carried no more deadly 
weapon than a first rate camera. As trophies, he brings 
back twenty-six pictures of live moose, some of them 
truly startling. One old bull allowed them to photograph 
him two or three times at one sitting — one standing, doubt- 
less—the focusing and drawing of the plate shield not 
alarming him. Mr. Menzier spends his winters in Florida, 
and has made some excellent pictures of that country. 
Fly-fishing is his pastime, and his friends call him a'n 
expert. 
The new law permitting the shooting of one deer in 
September, by paying for a license to do so, is popular 
with the guests at the principal resorts in Maine, so far, 
but how the purchasers of these licenses will feel about it 
later remains to be told. At Moosehead about sixty 
licenses had been sold the first week of September ; five or 
six of them to ladies. At the Rangeleys hardly as many 
were sold relatively, and at the Aroostook county re- 
sorts the hunters are evidently waiting for the full open 
season more generally. At Moosehead and the Rangeleys 
the deer have been coming in plentifully, but the num- 
ber scarcely equaling the number of licenses. Here it is 
that the discontent will come in. Hunters and novices will 
not get the game they seek, in a great many cases, and 
strangers will leave Maine with no favorable impression of 
her game laws. I speak advisedly of this phase of the 
matter, for I have already seen two disgusted hunters who 
paid for licenses and were out the first day of September, 
Neither saw a deer, though one of them hunted two days 
and the other four. They say that the law is unfair, and 
that they will pay for no licenses again. Mr. Gillam, of 
Philadelphia, a good shot and determined hunter, was at 
the Rangeleys early in September. He took out a license 
and hired a guide. The guide took him on a seriously 
long tramp, but not a sight of a deer was caught. Mr. 
Gillam was disgusted. The guide explained that doubt- 
less the recent rain had driven the deer away. Mr. Gillam 
gave up his license and started for home, not caring to 
hunt further. He describes the license as a queer docu- 
ment. It presumes to describe the holder, gives his age 
and a general description. The design is that no one else 
shall use it to hold a dead deer. It must be fast to the 
deer till every trace is consumed, if the holder of the car- 
cass would be safe from arrest. But what becomes of 
the paper after one hunter or the first deer is done with it? 
I came across a hunter Saturday just returned from 
Maine. He had been on a fishing trip, somewhat ex- 
tended. He stayed over into September, and took out a 
license to kill a deer. After hunting three days, he gave 
up in discouragement and came home. His idea is that 
hunting opportunities in Maine are greatly exaggerated. 
A deer is seen, and a great account is made of it. The 
newspapers_ devoted to blowing get hold of it, .and it takes 
only one edition to magnify the one deer into a dozen. He 
wants no more licenses to shoot in Maine; believes that 
hunters generally would be willing to pay for deer, if they 
could get them, but paying for game before it is taken he 
thmks is rather tough and slightly un-American. Still, the 
reports indicate that a good many deer are being taken in 
September. Returned hunters say that they are rieariy all 
taken at the water, or in the edge of the fields, where they 
come out to feed. They also say that deer are being shot 
by farmers and others and held ready for sportsmen who 
come along with a license. This is particularly true near 
the location of camps where a deer or two is wanted. It 
is pretty well understood that the sportsman is not at all 
sure of getting his deer himself; that he has paid for his 
license, and after he has hunted for a few days, why, a 
few dollars are no object for the possession of a nice deer 
to be used in camp. The transaction takes place in the 
woods, and outsiders are none the wiser. The license held 
by the hunter covers the deer. I hear it directly from a 
gentleman who has hunted several days in Maine, since 
Sept. I, that a local hunter— the gentleman thinks that he 
holds the license of a registered guide, but is not sure 
of this — has a resident's $4 license, ready to cover any deer 
that he may be caught in the possession of during Septem- 
ber, but that he is approachable to any hunter who happens 
to want the deer he has already. This first one sold, he 
will immediately kill another, and so on. None of these 
deer are brought out of the woods. The hunter is guided 
to them. Such are the workings of the September license 
law, as given to me by those who have been there. 
The open season on partridges in Maine begins Sept. 
IS, under the law passed last winter; five days sooner than 
under the old law. Several Boston gunners are getting 
ready for an early hunt in that State. They hear that 
prospects are the best for several years, the dry season 
having been favorable to the broods. The open season • 
begins on the same day in Massachusetts. 
Special. 
Hunting and Fishing in Canada. 
Mr. Joncas, the Provincial Superintendent of Fish and 
Game, has received reports from almost every part of the 
Province of Quebec, telling him that moose and red deer 
are much more numerous than ever, and that the indica- 
tions are favorable for a very fruitful caribou hunting 
season. Moose have already been killed this season in 
Temiscouata county, and se'veral caribou in the county 
of Charlevoix. The Department of Lands, Forests and 
Fisheries is energetically protecting its hunting terri- 
tories from poachers, and some fifteen cases of prosecu- 
tions against alleged offenders, accused of killing large 
game out of season, are at present pending in dift'erent 
parts of the Province, 
A large party of prominent American anglers is fishing 
on the territory of the Metabetchonan Club, and some 
fine specimens of 21b. trout have already been taken there 
this month. Mr. Flagg, the well-known New York 
lawyer, and his wife, have had fine sport, and so have 
Judge Kellog, of Waterbury; Mr. S. A. Burns, Presi^ 
dent of the Fourth NatioriaT Bank of Bridgeport; Mr. 
Benham and Mr. Stevens, of Bridgeport. They have re- 
cently been joined by Dr. Civilion Fownes and Dr. 
Porter, of Bridgeport ; by Mr. Jos. Davis, consulting 
engineer of the Bell Telephone Company, and by Mr. 
George S. Green, brother of Frank Green, of Manila fame. 
Mr. Geo. E. Hart, of Waterbury, who is now on the 
Triton tract, spent some days last week on the Meta- 
betchouan tract, and enjoyed some very fine sport. 
Mr. Geo. Porter, son of Dr. Porter, of Bridgeport, with 
his wife and four-year-old son, enjoyed a novel experience 
the other day while on a canoeing and camping trip from 
Lake Edward to Lake Kiskisink. A large bear and two 
cubs swam across the Bostonnais River one evening right 
in front of their camp. Next day an enormous bear that the 
guides estimated would weigh at least soolbs. came down 
to the river side and deliberately got into the water for a 
bathe within 50yds. of them. They had only a shotgun 
with them, with which they fired some slugs into the 
animal, when he ambled off into the woods, apparently 
none the worse for his experience. 
Among the many parties of hunters who have just 
taken out licenses to shoot caribou in the Lake St. John 
district are Messrs. G. N. Brownley, of Morristown 
N. Y. ; C. Curtis, of Buffalo, N. Y., and F. S. Pruyn of 
Albany, N. Y. The Messrs. McClintock, father and son. 
are hunting in the Lake St. John country with Prosper 
Cleary as chief guide. A party of six New Yorkers have 
taken out licenses to hunt in the Metapedia Valley, and 
another party now in the same district after moose and 
caribou consists of Col. A. C. Chase, Rev. N. R. Lock S 
C. Hayden and N. W. Chase, of Syracuse, N. Y. Messrs 
C. C. Shoemaker and B. C. L. Griffiths, of Philadelphia 
and J. D. Thees and Geo. H. Diehl, of New York, are 
after moose and deer in the Temiscouata district. Several 
American members of the newly formed Caughwagana 
Fish and Game Club will arrive on their limits early in 
October after moose and red deer. The season for hunt- 
ing in Ottawa and Pontiac only opens on Oct. i. The 
Caughwagana Club controls the hunting and fishing over 
244 square miles of territory on either side of the Mag- 
nacipi River. 
Mr. Hooper, of the Winchester Repeating Aums Com- 
pany. IS expected up here very shortly after big game and 
will hunt in the Lake St. John country. ' 
E. T. D. Chambers, 
QuBDEC;, Septi 9. 
The FoEEST AND Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday, 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach ua at the 
latest by Monday and aa much earlier as practicable. 
