£64 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tSEFr. 30, 1899. 
The worst part of the occurrence was facing the family 
with the news. The one deer which remained was then 
killed, and the whole herd wiped out. It has been a stand- 
ing joke for a generation, and when the hunters congre- 
gate, they tell the tale anew, generallj' adding a few deer 
to the total amount brought down on that day, but this 
account is the true tale of Uncle Bob Kerr's seven deer, 
as related by him to the writer the other day. It has long 
since ceased to be a sore subject to him, but at one time 
it was no laughing matter* V 
Andrew Price. 
MaRunton, W. Va. 
A Snake and a Man with a Hoe. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
While reclining in my boudoir yesterday, wondering 
what I had better do next, Providence furnished enter- 
tainment. There was sudden and unannounced music 
a few yards away, just beyond the veranda of my man- 
sion, that I recognized immediately. The music, a kind 
uf noise, was furnished by a native of these hills, the 
diamond-back rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). 
My cat (an excellent cat) had found the reptile, and 
acted as though he would like to have it. The cat was 
standing upon a granite boulder, sprying and sparring 
among the ferns that grew thickly about the stone. 
Whenever Tom struck at the ferns, although he did so 
gently and with great consideration, the snake touched 
off his whizzing extremity. It sounded much like the 
dripping of water on a red-hot stove. 
Upon investigation, I could see the snake between the 
boulder and the fence, and under the ferns. I was some- 
what surprised by the size of him, for he would have 
filled a fair-sized water bucket. He was coiled, and his 
dart-shaped head and rattles stood erect and almost side 
by side. His head, with forked tongue protr'idirg, 
moved alertly from side to side, while at intervals he 
played the tune that is always inspiring. 
I f-.'und a hoe, which was rather short in the handle for 
the purpose, but I succeeded in stirring the snake up to 
the effect that I was astonished by his activity. He was 
almost as transitory as a Filipino, but probably not so 
constant to any one direction. In fact he seemed to 
have no definite intention of going away very far ai iong 
as the cat, my dog and myself surrounded him. and I 
never could be sure as to the exact whereabouts of his 
principal extremity, owing to his vacillation, and the 
protection he had in the fence, vines and boulders. 
In factj he vacillated so much that several times I 
suddenly gave him more room, and receded from him. 
I had on a pair of slippers, and although my feet are 
mates one of them — one of the slippers — came off by 
becoming entangled in the vines. Being somewhat ag- 
gravated, I decided it would be as well to kill the reptile; 
so I struck at his head with the hoe. Just as I struck, 
however, he took his head aw^y, and all I got was most 
of the rattles that the hoe severed from the other ex- 
treme of his person. The snake recoiled himself, but 
when he shook his tail, and found it wouldn't whizz, he 
was unmistakably angry. He had gotten under the fence 
and I couldn't reach him without getting into briars and 
vines, which would interfere with the agility I wanted to 
use. 
Ueaving the cat and dog on guard I went into the 
house and got my .22 rifle. Returning, I could see the 
flat head of the snake in position for business, but the 
small pellet of base metal that I plunked through it 
caused him to subside like a Spanish gunboat. I then 
drew him out with the hoe and found he was an elegant 
specimen, 3ft. loin. long, and about 6in. in circumference. 
Placing a cord around his beautiful throat, I hung him 
up in a tree until he was dead throughout. Upon ex- 
amining him from time to time, I became interested in 
his scaly skin and concluded to preserve it as a trophy. 
] never skinned any snakes before, and I am now of opin- 
ion that few people have any notable conception of the 
flexile possibilities. A living snake is something of a 
contortionist, but if you will flay a serpent and cause its 
entire anatomy to evolve through the hole in its head, 
you will realize that most other problems are simple, 
everyday matters. 
It was along about sundown when I had that snake 
somewhat disassociated, having removed his skin, in- 
tact, by taking the snake out through his own mouth. 
I had first removed the deadly chemical equipment from 
his death magazine, and then simply turned him wrong 
side out. 
Familiarity breeds contempt, especially for nice non- 
sensical distinctions, and some old superstitious. Snakes 
are as cleanly as fish, or more so. This one's flesh was 
as white as that of a brook trout;- there was not a thing 
inside of him but one long, empty tube, heart and organs 
like lungs and liver, and entirely lined with fat. I re- 
moved the fat. and placing it on a fire, reduced it to a 
phial of oil that is almost as colorless as water and 
odorless. 
Finally I coiled the reptile into an iron pan, placed it 
in an old oven and baked it to a nice aristocratic brown. 
Twent-four hours after either the cat or dog had seen it 
alive I placed it before them at» a savory cold roast, 
Neither of them cared for any. They were even botR 
afraid of it baked. They have the natural or the ac- 
quired prejudices of some people. Perhaps Coahoma 
can account for this. 
At present writing the baked reptile is being devoured 
by a swarm of yellowjackets. They have removed every 
vestige of flesh from a part of the bony skeleton, which 
in itself is a wonderful thing. The skeleton is as white 
as iyory, and I have seen no more wonderful bonework 
than the vertebra of a rattlesnake. The skin will be a 
beautiful thing when it is cured — that is, to one of cul- 
tivated tastes. Ransacker. 
Shasta Mountains, Cal., Sept. 6. 
weighed 53lbs. At the time of its death in 1896 it weighed 
3681bs., an increase of 3J5lbb. in forty-three years. This 
rate of growth is much more rapid than tortoises are coin^ 
monly credited with. 
The United States Fish Commission steamer Albatross, 
which sailed from San Francisco with the scientific party 
under Prof. Agassiz, bound for the south Pacific, was 
commanded by Commander Jefferson F. Moser, whose 
comprehensive volume on the salmon and salmon fisheries 
of Alaska was issued not long ago. The voyage of the Al- 
batross will take her to regions where little or no deep 
sea irivestigation has previously been done, and most in- 
teresting results may be expected from it. 
^Htti^ ^Hg md 0m 
3£t 
DON*T SHOOT 
until yoo SEE your deer — and see 
that it is a deer and not a man. 
i 
I 
Growth of a Tortoise. 
In-- the report of the Australian Museum for 1897 is 
found an account of the growth of one of the Galapagos 
tortoises (Te^^j^do nigrita) which is interesting,. The 
soecimen was brought to Sydney, N^w South Wales, by 
the American whaler Winslow in 1853, and at that time 
A South Carolina Hunt. 
TitJi fact tbat I am iond of'tiarrating my experiences 
with dog and gun is the only af)biogy 1 have to offer for 
penc. nig these lines. 
F 1 m the raountanis to the sea in search of game may 
seei a strange move to the unacquainted, but such is 
the . .der of things at this period of time. The "happy 
hun.ing ground'* is no longer in the hill country where 
the Indians found it, but in the swamp regions and low 
lands near the coast. 
Ja: uary, 1899, found the writer, with four companions, 
a party consisting of four tried huntsmen and Henry, 
lea\iag the mountains of North Carolina, bound for the 
sea coast region of South Carolina, and a deer hunt. We 
reached our destination, an old plantation on the Cooper 
River, twenty miles from Charleston, on the 5th. At 
the railroad station we met our host, Mr. S., as clever 
a man as ever trod the soil of the State of Calhoun, and 
a number of old-fashioned South Carolina negroes. These 
old negroes seem to be a distinct species, especially in the 
matter of dialect, for they use a brogue which a nnjun- 
taincer can understand but little of. Just as the shades 
of evening' are coming on we arrive at what we sup- 
pose woitld be a hut in the wilderness, but are surprise.! 
to find instead as our temporary abode an nid-time man- 
sion, and in its day a magnificent one. Upon inquiry 
we learn that this old mansion, which is now surrounded 
by a wilderness inhabited by wild bea.sts. and used only 
as a hunting lodge, was buih about the year 1680 ljy a 
landgrave Smith, c:tut of brick and other material im- 
ported from England. An inscription carved on a large 
granite slab mounting a little eminence in the front yard 
tells the story of the life and character of this early pro- 
prietor in the following words: "Here lieth ye body of 
the Right Hon-bl Thomas Smith, Esqr., one of ye land- 
graves of Carolina, who departed this life ye i6th of Nov., 
1694, Govenor of the Province of Carolina, in ye 46 year 
of his age." 
After a night's rest and listening to assurances from 
our host of a successful expedition, we early the morning 
after our arrival started for game. 
Every hunting party has to have its fun, of course, in 
addition to the enjoyment we get out of the actual ex- 
perience of hunting, and this amusement is usually at the 
expense of some member of the party. Henry seems to 
have been both by nature and circumstances well suited 
to "bear the white man's burden" — in this instance the 
practical jokes. His paternal ancestor was born and 
reared on the banks of the Cooper River, and though 
Henry had never before visited the scenes of his father's 
childhood, and though he was wholly ignorant of the art 
of hunting, he had heard his father tell so many stories of 
his exploits in this region with dog and gun that he was 
full of chivalrous desires and anxious to vie with the 
most experienced huntsman for supremacy. In fact, it is 
not believed that the descendants of Daniel Boone ever 
took more pride in the exploits of their ancestor than 
Henry on this occasion exhibited in behalf of the mem- 
ory of the hunting record of his father. 
We proceed but a short distance till we come to a 
pond upon which we observe swimming in nice style a 
diver or penguin. Instantly it occurs to us all that the 
honor of bagging the first game should belong to Henry, 
so with his double-barreled gun cocked and primed, we 
urge Henry on ahead to kill the duck, as all hands pro- 
nounce it. He approaches to within good distance and 
discharges both barrels, and when the bird no longer ap- 
pears above the surface of the water Henry acts as if he 
believes, and we thought at the time did believe, that he 
had killed the object of his aim, and that it had sunk to 
the bottom. 
When Henry finally discovered his coveted bird swirn- 
ming in the pond looyds. from where it was when he did 
his shooting, he was very much puzzled to know how this 
could be, and upon learning that the privilege which we 
had granted him of having the first shot was merely in 
aid of a joke, he did not feel quite so kindly toward us 
as he was at first inclined to feel. Humoring the joke for 
awhile, we go on. 
"Boys," says Mr. S., "we will drive for bigger game 
to-day, but to-morrow we will go to the river and 
shoot ducks. I saw a large number over there no longer 
ago than yesterday, some of them a fine species known in 
these waters as the 'decoy duck.' " 
"All right! All right!" says Henry. "I would like to 
get a shot at those decoys, for I am satisfied that is the 
kind of ducks I have heard my father tell about shooting 
when he lived here." 
The hilarity that followed this exclamation was enough 
in this quiet region to frighten all the game for miles 
away, and Henry finally detecting from the meaning of 
the term decoy the awful mistake he had made, chimed in. 
"Wild hogs' are frequently found in these woods," says 
Mr. S., "and if any of you see a hog to-day you may be 
certain he is a wild one. and shoot him." 
Henry, who had by this time become suspicious, took 
this statement as a further effort to procure a practical 
joke at his expense, by inducing him to shoot some fari| 
er's hog; but remembering that he had heard his fathi 
give some of his experiences in chasing the wild bof 
Henry took occasion to tell us what he had heard Y, 
father say. He also ventured to ask some questio; 
which showed that while he pretended to disbelieve t) 
story as to the prospect of our encountering wild hog 
he w^as nevertheless apprehensive that there might 1 
some truth in it. 
After a short walk further on, the hunters are soo 
stationed in their stands about 200yds apart, and the 
breathlessly await the approach of game. A half mi 
or more in our front we can hear the toot of our driver! 
horn and the occasional yelp of a dog. We wait fon, 
nearer approach, but not patiently. We think we a;) 
anxious to see a huge buck with long horns come daslj 
ing up, but we are not certain. We have heard of tl 
buck ague, and while we have some confidence in 
ability to ward off and resist such a state of feeling c 
disease should we be threatened with it, still we are fea: 
ful. The noise made by the drivers and dogs present) 
becomes much more distinct, indicative of their a] 
proach at a rapid rate. A little nearer and we unde; 
stand that a chase is on. A few moments more and , 
great commotion only a few hundred yards in our froi 
reveals to us the fact that the game is nearing our standi 
Stout hearts beat as they never beat before, for mingle 
with the voices of our excited drivers and the mouths ( 
our faithful dogs we can hear the ferocious growl of tb 
wild hog. Instantly the feeling in every man's breast i 
"I have .got to face and fight a wild boar." Directly i; 
our front is a dense thicket, and from this and througt 
his stand each huntsman is expecting the savage beat 
to come. So ferocious is the sound, so exciting the chas 
and nervous the hunters, that the bravest of us are foun 
mounting logs, and each about half way hoping that ars 
other than himself will have to bear the burden of th 
onset. 
Henry about this time is observed perched in the fork 
of a tree, and when questioned about it later, excuse^ 
himself' by remarking that he remembered to have hear 
his father say wild hogs could not climb trees. 
To our surprise, and somewhat to our satisfaction, ni 
doubt, though we would not have admitted it at the time 
the dogs overtake their prey just before emerging fron 
the thicket, our drivers are soon in the midst of them 
and the dogs, encouraged by their presence, lay violen 
hold of the hog, and though some of them are in a shor 
space of time torn and bleeding from ugly wounds mad 
by the tusks of the beast, they hold him with such tenacity 
that our drivers, with true huntsman's courage, plant i 
pole across the back of the animal and with the aid of th. 
dogs press it to the earth, and while being so held, ti* 
the? legs hard and fast with a cord. This being done, tht 
drivers annotmce the capture and the hunters approach 
The hog by this time is lying in the grass almost con- 
cealed from view and perfectly quiet. His position wa: 
directly on a line between us and the captors. No soonei 
is the announcement made that the animal has been se 
cured than Henry comes out of his tree and leads tht 
A'an. Suddenly a great "Boo! Boo! Boo!" right at ou): 
feet announces to us one and all tliat Henry has in hif 
haste and excitement walked almost into the mouth O: 
the hog. The poor boy is so dreadfully frightened ovei 
the incident that it becomes a matter too serious for laugh- 
ter. After Henry had somewhat recovered from his frighl 
and had ventured close enough to examine the game/ 
which he thought he had discovered was in no condition 
to do him any hurt, he remarked: "Boys, this reminds 
me of what I have heard my father tell about hunting wild 
hogs, and I would like very much to have the tail of that 
boar to carry home as a trophy." Now, the fun of this 
latter remark consisted in the fact that our game was 
not of the boar gender. 
We all agreed, however, that Henry should have the 
tail of a live wild hog, provided he secured the trophy 
with his own hands. Henry hesitated, but finally agreed: 
that if a knife was furnished he would do the work. The 
knife being procured, slowly and cautiously he approached 
his intended victim. Getting very near, and while in a' 
stooping attitude reaching after his prize, one of the men 
in the rear gave a sirdden "Boo! Boo!" and Henry fell' 
forward, catching with his hands on the rump of the ani- 
mal. At this sudden aAvakening the hog made a tre- 
mendous lunge, snapping and growling as scarcely beast: 
ever did before, Henry with a bound scales the hog,, 
grass and all, and the hog with another surge, as if en- 
couraged by Henr}r's effort, breaks its fetters, springs to] 
its feet and with the fleetness of a deer plunges into the 
thicket, and the chase is on again. This time it is short-' 
lived, however, for very soon a well-directed shot from.i 
the gun of Mr. S. ends the life of the creature, and. 
Hehrjr in triumph claims the tail. 
The tension on our nerves during the excitement of this 
chase had been so great that the relaxation consequent .| 
upon a rest Avas almost prostrating, and when what we . 
intended as a little time for recuperation came to -an ^ 
end the shades of evening were coming on and we re- 
tired to the lodge for the night. 
Seated by a dim firelight that night, some of our party 
sleeping, and no doubt dreaming of witches, hobgoblins i, 
and hog hunts, our host, much to my entertainment, -re- j 
lated a -number of incidents connected with the early his- 
tory of this region of country. One of these incidents I 
will attempt to tell, and whether or not any virtue be dis- 
covered in my manner of telling, I hope the reader will 
bear in mind that the value of the story consists in its 
verity. _,../■ 
Legend of Goose Creek. 
Nearby the old mansion Avhich I have described in the 
first part of this article stands as another evidence of this 
ancient civilization what is known as the "Old Goose 
Creek Church." This old structure— -it is now more than 
200 years since it was erected — ^is of imported brick also, 
and though covered with moss and ivy is still in a fair 1 
state of preservation. For more than 150 years after its 
erection this old church was the place of worship for the 
highest type of Southern civilization, but its usefulness, 
consequent upon the new order of things brought about 
by the results of the War of the Rebellion, has long since 
passed away. From Charleston and other places, even 
to this day, though, once a year go the descendants of 
this ancient people to the old church for worship. On ac- 
count of the associations and the legends that are told in 
