and as soon as the attempt was made to dig them out they 
would burrow away faster than they could be followed 
with pick and shovel, and thus always escaped. Cogi- 
tating over the matter, I conceived a plan which I 
thought would prove successful, and made one of my 
neighbors promise to inform me as soon as he discov- 
ered^ another den. But a short time elapsed before I 
received notice, and going to the entrance of the hole I 
thrust in a bamboo rod until I could feel the animal. 
The rod was then withdrawn and laid on the ground so that 
its tip would be just over the animal. Ten paces were 
then stepped off and a ditch was sunk at right angles 
with the trend of the animal's hole; the Kaffirs were 
started digging from the entrance. In a short time the 
ant-bear unexpectedly to himself tumbled into the trans- 
verse ditch and was secured before he could make a 
fresh excavation. By this device I captured several, but 
ihey all died in transit to Europe and I gave up the job. 
A . short time afterward I refused to purchase one which 
was picked up by a homeward-bound captain who was 
lucky enough to land it in London in good condition 
and received a long price for it from the zoo. 
Several times I assisted the Boers in the capture of 
entire litters of the Ethiopian wart hog, which was ef- 
fected in the following manner: As soon as the lair, 
which was generally a hole in a bank or an ant heap, 
was discovered a party would go to it, and while some at- 
tended to the digging the others would station them- 
selves on the surrounding ant heaps and shoot the old 
ones, which would make a fighting charge through the 
grass as soon as ihcy heard the sqiieals of captured 
youngsters. Should the shots not prove immediately 
fatal it required some pretty lively dodging to escape 
being badly hurt by their enormous tusks. 
I confess that I never had any hairbreadth escapes 
from lions, as I generally hunted them in the company uf 
the Boers, who are capital rough riders and excellent 
rifle shots. Their mode of procedure was to badger them 
with dogs and shoot them from the saddle. Should the 
quarry prove to be a female in milk, immediate search 
was made for the Utter, which would be picked up and 
reared bj'^ hand. In one of my trips I was lying in my 
slowly moving wagon on an intensely hot day, when I 
heard a hubbub among my Kaffir contingent, and called 
out to January, my body servant, to know what was the 
matter. His answer was, "Lions, boss." Seizing my 
Winchester rifle, I sprang out and caught sight of the 
Kaffirs massed on a slight eminence near the road, shout- 
ing, beating their assegais against their shields and 
raising a terrific din. On reaching them, I "caught sight 
of a pair of lions at a comparatively short distance, slink- 
ing awaj'^ from the body of a freshly killed Burchell 
zebra. The pinging of a bullet from my hastijy fired 
rifle hastened their departure into a convenient thicket, 
and the Kaffirs instantly secured the carcass. 
Of all the fiery, ill-disposed animals which I met in 
my wanderings, I must confess that the Cape buffalo 
bore the palm. Shortly after ray arrival in Durban one 
was brought in from a neighboring farm, where it had 
been reared by a cow; but as it grew in age it increased 
in irritability until it became a terror to the neighbor- 
hood. The owner sold it to a captain, and after a deal 
of trouble managed to box it. It was lightered out to the 
vessel after she had anchored outside of the bar, and as 
the crew were busy getting ready to make sail there was 
a crash and every man suddenly had business aloft, while 
the buffalo took charge of the deck. After promenading 
for a while he took a header over the bulwarks and 
swam over half a mile before reaching the beach. He 
charged up the main street of the town, putting every- 
thing to flight, and did not stop until he reached his old 
home, where he was shot a few days afterward. 
I made frequent hunting trips into Zululand in the 
company of some Boers who lived in the Transvaal, just 
across the Buffalo River from Newcastle, Natal. One 
was made especially for getting buffalo hides, and we 
hunted in a country governed by a queen, and for the 
privilege gave her a half-bushel of salt. Whenever a 
buffalo was killed the skin was carried into our camp by 
women, but their husbands were always sure to be on 
hand to collect and divide the double handful of salt 
which was paid for the service. On our return trip one of 
the Boers had a narrow escape from a buffalo bull which 
charged into our party as we were passing along the 
banks of a stream. He was forced to plunge headlong 
into the water and swim underneath it for some dis- 
tance in order to escape a vicious lunge of the brute, 
which was shot by the other members of the party. 
When I first went to Natal, it was a common prac- 
tice to make trips across' the Tugela River into Zulu- 
land for the purpose of hunting elands in order to secure 
the meat for salting and biltong, which consists of strips 
of the flesh hung up and dried in the sun. On one of 
our expeditions we were accompanied by a young Ger- 
man, who had recently arrived in the colony. We were 
very lucky, and in a comparatively short time had our 
wagon loaded with meat and started on our return. One 
afternoon, as we were hurrying along in order to reach a 
good camping spot which we knew was but a short dis- 
tance ahead, the new arrival stopped to have a bath in a 
convenient pond instead of continuing with the party. It 
was nearly dark when we reached camp, and completely 
so by the time we had finished supper. Much to our 
surprise the newly arrived did not put in an appearance, 
-md several shots were fired to serve as a guide if he had 
happened to have lost his way. Waiting for the moon, 
wnicn was about full, to rise, we armed ourselves and 
started on the back track to try and find out what had 
become of him. When we reached within a short dis- 
tance of the bathing place the absentee was descried 
perched in an enormous euphorbia tree, while under- 
neath a huge buffalo bull was playing sentry. A cautious 
advance was made, the sentry was dropped in his tracks 
by a volley from the party, and the prisoner released. 
On reaching terra firma he was found to be clothed in 
nothing but his shirt, while the rest of his clothing was 
in shreds at the foot of the tree. His story was that he 
had just time enough to scramble up the tree in order 
to save his life. For several days afterward the tortures 
the poor fellow suffered were indescribable, as the eu- 
phorbia is a Brobdingnagian cactus, teeming with count- 
less spines. Frank J. Thompson. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspontlence intended for publication should reach us, at the 
latest ty Monday and as much earlier a? practicable. 
A Camp Tid-Bit. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It seems that friend Ransacker has ''got 'em again." 
Somebody must have been poldng him up in his moun- 
tain lair with something sharp to cause such an emission 
of spitting and clawing as appears in this number of 
Forest and Stream. But whoever is at the bottom of 
this ebullition of humorous bad humor is entitled to the 
thanks of Forest and St:ream readers, for Ransacker is 
unique and interesting, whether he appears in the role 
of Jupiter Tonans in a mimic thunder cloud or as the 
genius of "gentle spring" in the "sunshine of a May 
morning." 
I do not bff'er any apology to Ransacker for being thus 
personal in my remarks, because I have a grudge to 
settle with him of long standing. 
Some months ago I was invested by Forest and 
Stream with the high dignity of special judge to sit 
on the trial of Raccoon versus Man. I had scarcely be- 
gun to feel at ease in contemplating the prospective 
adornment of the "judicial ermine" and how well I 
should become such adornment, when comes a withering 
blast from the cynical pen of Ransacker, suggesting a 
doubt of my qualification for the responsible duty as- 
signed to me, because my "judicial poise" might have 
been disturbed by the "whicker of the coon in my corn- 
field." This it seemed to me was a far-fetched notion, 
and a baseless attack upon an innocent man — a very in- 
nocent man, seeing that I never owned a cornfield in 
my life and never heard a coon "whicker" either in my 
own or any other cornfield; and as to my "judicial 
poise," if I ever possessed such a commodity it must 
have been "unconsciously assimilated," perhaps from 
Ransacker himself. 
In consideration of the foregoing, I feel warranted in 
treating his innuendo with "silent scorn," as you per- 
ceive. More recently I was called upon by Ransacker 
to account for certain eccentricities in the behavior of 
his dog and cat, in exhibiting marks of a repulsive feel- 
ing when presented with a nicely baked rattlesnake. I 
can only account for their perverse conduct on the 
theory of bad raising. 
That crotalus is good to eat when properly cooked 
and under a thin disguise of cognomen, as here used 
advisedly, I have perfectly authentic evidence in the 
statement of my friend and brother tripodist, Charley 
Barton; and be it known that all those who go down into 
the great woods behind the tripod and there "behold the 
works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep 
(woods)" may be implicitly relied upon in the matter of 
veracity. Mr. Barton relates that not long ago, being 
engaged in making a survey among the heavy canebrakes 
of Simflower count}', a large rattlesnake was killed by one 
of the party. As it was desired to secure the skin, the 
snake was divested of that garment, which he no longer 
needed. The flesh of the snake looked so inviting that 
it was cut up into sections, and one of the negroes was 
directed to carry an armful to camp. Just before reach- 
ing camp the negro lightened his burden by dropping 
some of the sections of snake. The remaining portions 
were duly fried by the camp cook and placed before the 
party of hungry engineers. Each one eyed the mess 
askance, and manifested a diffidence about showing 
greediness for the decidedly novel dish. But Barton^ 
being the instigator of the plot, said he determined to eat 
a piece "if it killed him," which he proceeded to do, when 
all the others followed suit. 
The dish proved so toothsome that it was all eaten, atid 
the negro who brought it to catnp was sent back to find 
the portions he had dropped on the way. 
In all seriousness, the above was related to me by 
Mr. Barton as true, and he is a sober-minded man, who 
never takes liberties with the truth tmder any circum- 
stances. Coahoma. 
Mississippi, Oct. 15. 
Snails in Cuban Style. 
Boston, Mass. — Editor Forest and Stream: The article 
in your issue of Sept. 9 on "Snails as an Article of 
Diet" reminds me of something I saw in Cuba last win- 
ter. I was up at Alto Songo in the Province of Santiago. 
There were quartered there at the time two companies of 
colored troops. Their white captains, gentlemen from 
Mississippi and Texas, respectively, were our hosts. It 
is almost needless to say that nothing could exceed the 
generous character of their hospitality. One of them — 
the Mississippian — was very fond of hunting, and re- 
ported wild guinea fowl abundant in the vicinity. We 
planned an early morning hunt for them, but were delayed 
in our start till the sun was too high and the shy birds 
had left their morning feeding grounds and were safe in 
dense cover, where it was almost useless to try to follow 
them. So we were fain to try for mourning doves. 
I got just one sho«t — niy only one in Cuba, as it turned 
out — and surprised myself by grassing my bird in the 
most approved manner, for he was quartering swiftly 
over some small trees, and I had btit a glimpse of him, 
and I hadn't pulled trigger for a long time at anything 
flying. 
Rejoining the Captain, who had three or four birds, we 
remounted our horses and rode slowly back up the long 
slope to Alto Songo, I all the while taking in with keen- 
est interest the sights and sounds so novel to me. 
The dense growths of tall bamboos— most graceful and 
plumy — were a delight to me, and no less did I admire 
the great groves of the royal palm and the thick, green 
foliage of the mangos. 
Animal life seemed mainly confined to birds, and 
these were far less abundant than I had hoped and ex- 
pected to find. 
All the morning, however, I had heard at short in- 
tervals a peculiar, plaintive cry or whistle which I 
found was made by a blackbircI~to me very like our 
common American blackbird, for which I should have 
taken it but for its note. 
We passed a large nwmbet' of workmen — Cubans— 
who. under the direction of an American, were engaged 
in clearing out and making over iiito serviceable coiid, 
tion an old road that here crossed the island. Thc}' 
had cut the short brush which cumbered the ground and 
set it on fire, 3,nd behind them long winrows of it were 
here and there slowly burning. My companion stopper 
to try to buy from an old Cuban workman a handsome 
Spanish machete which he was wielding. I rode slow!;, 
on, and presently was aware of a continuous crackHne. 
and popping in the slowly burning brush. At the sama 
time I discovered a good number of blackbirds m ciu.^e 
attendance on the windward side of the fire. They would 
follow up the creeping flame so closely as to be in some 
apparent danger of being burned. I was, of course, 
curious to know what caused this temerity and what 
they were after. They were so intent on their work tha': 
I could ride very near to them, and I discovered that they 
were picking from the charred twigs the land snails that 
adhered to them in fabulous numbers, and which had 
been nicely roasted by the fire. A diet of roasted snails, 
then, was what attracted these island epicures — the black- 
birds. They could not be suspected of having had m.uch 
experience with this sort of food, one would suppose, but 
had evidently been quick to discover it and to avail 
themselves of it after the fires were started. 
Was it the bursting of the snails under great heat that 
caused the snapping and popping I had heard in the 
burning brush? I certainly must suppose it was, un- 
less some one can show that snails will not so explode 
when the fluids in their inmost whorls are turned into 
stearn. I don't doubt that roasted snail is good eating or 
that in life the univalve, clinging closely by suction to the 
twig, is hard if not impossible for a blackbird to get at. 
There are many species of these land snails in Cuba, and 
they are found in wonderful abundance. It is fair to sup- 
pose that the Cuban blackbirds join in the general ap- 
proval of Gen. Wood's wise and energetic efforts at Cuban 
road-making. G. H. Ames. 
Forests and Forest Fires. 
Boston, Mass., Oct. 17. — Editor Forest mi Stream: 
I notice in your edition of Oct. 7 an article written by Mr. 
Charles L. Paige, of California. It is too long an article 
to quote from extensively, and I will only quote one para- 
graph: 
"In so far as applies to the region of northern Cali- 
fornia, the subject is one with which all observant moun- 
taineers are familiar; but, as far as any practical effort 
is made, it would seem that legislators never conceive 
of any method of forest protection other than the enact- 
ment of laws prohibiting about the only protection to 
California forests that is possible. As a matter of un- 
mistakable fact, the only practical protection for moun- 
tain forests is to keep down the accumulation of debris 
and undergrowth. The longer fire is prevented, the 
more complete is the destruction eventually. Fire is the 
only preventive of wholesale conflagration in extensive 
scopes of forest. It is the natural regulator of the wilder- 
ness, and the more necessary where saw mills and set- 
tlements have changed natural conditions." 
It must be' that Mr. Paige is not familiar with timber- 
lands or their handling, or he never would advocate burn-, 
ing them over to prevent fires. It is impossible for a 
fire to run in a forest without injuring the living trees, 
causing the bark to stick, and eventually meaning their 
death, although not, perhaps, immediately. 
If Mr. Paige's plan was adopted, for instance, in the 
Adirondacks, what would be the result? There would ■ 
be nothing left there, for it would be impossible to burn, 
underbrush except in a dry time, and in a dry time there 
would be nothing left but rocks and gravel. 
In the Adirondacks there is an accumulation of rotten 
wood which, when dry, resembles peat. This is from 
r to 3ft. deep in dift'erent places, and if a fire starts in a 
dry time it will run under the roots of the trees and' 
tip over large quantities of fine timber, which would be 
entirely destroyed. 
I am the owner of quite a tract of land in the Adiron- 
dacks, and I was camping in the woods this season during 
the dry time. All that saved the Adirondacks this year 
was the fact that we did not get a high wind, for fires 
were burning all around in the woods, which had been set 
by hunters, also by people maliciously inclined. These 
fires were quite extensive in some cases, but if we had 
had a high wind, the same results would have occurred 
that happened in Wisconsin several years ago. I em- 
ployed more or less men constantly for three weeks, stay- 
ing with these fires to keep them from spreading on my 
land. The largest one of the fires near my land burnt 
over a space of about .500 acres, and just crossed my line. 
The New York law relative to fires is a good one, but? 
does not go far enough. They have a system of fire 
wardens, which is a great help to subdue fires and pre- 
vent their spreading; but it should be made illegal for 
any one to set a fire on anj'' other person's land for an/ 
purpose whatever, without a permit to do so, and theti 
he should also be held accountable fof any damage that t 
might be caused therebj^ if a fire is allowed to spread atter^' 
being set under a permit for camping or other purpose.';. ' 
Lumbermen are now very careful about fires, and go. 
to great expense to prevent them, some keeping watch- 
men to go about their woods continually for that pur- ' 
pose. 
The danger of forest fires is now from hunters, rrtali- 
cious persons, and settlers. I think more fires are caused 
by settlers building fires that get beyond their control 
than in any other way. Franic A. CuttinC;^ 
Off iot the Ten Tfiousanci Islands. 
y 
Tarpon Springs^ Fla., Oct. 16. — The Kingfisher is in 
commission. She sails to-morrow on a two months' 
cruise south'ard. 
I am hoping the international race will have beeti sailed 
by that time, so that we may know whether the Cup wiK 
go or stay. 
The Kingfisher, in company with Maud, will spend a 
short time on Okeechobee, afterward going to our old' 
cruising ground, the Ten Thousand Islands. We hope 
to find old man Gomez hale and hearty. 
Will try and keep Forest and Stream well posted, at 
lea.st when we are where postals can be forwarded. Ex- 
pect to do a little shooting and some fishing, and to get 
lots of fresh air. Tarpon. 
