FORfigT AND STREAM. 
liltjinfiia 
Bit4s in Vifginia and North Carolina. 
South Boston, Va., Oct. 29.— A few days ago I had 
occasion to go over into Granville county, North Cafoliria, 
a distance of about twenty miles, and while on the trip I 
flushed not less than thirty large coveys of birds. In some 
places they were so bold as to rise and fly only ten or 
fifteen steps; in fact, one covey in particular had to be 
flushed three times before we could get a chance to shoot 
at them. At another place in the near vicinity of this 
.spot, Icnown to the writer, there are ten or fifteen large 
Coveys that have ample protection and are large and well 
fed birds.- Virginia and Nortli Carolina will be the ban- 
tier quail States this fall, H, P. W. 
A Rtinway Incident. 
South Boston, Ya..— Editor Forest and Stream : I have 
noticed so often in your columns comtnents on careless- 
ileSS of irresponsible persons with guns, that it brings to 
liiy tilllld ail ijlGident which happened to a party from this 
place not long siiice. The hunters had been on the stands 
since daybreak, and one of them being very thirsty, started 
out in quest of a spring. In doing so he walked oUt of the 
timber very close to another hunter, only to find a gun 
leveled directly at his head. Both men tell me that they 
feel nervous to this day wiien they see each other; one 
to think how nearly he came to being shot, and tlie other 
how nearly he" came to shooting his friend. H. G. W. 
Deer Mortality in North Carolina. 
CottNciL-'s Station, N. C, Oct. 30.— Deer, turkeys and 
(\mi\ are pletltiful this season in this section, though a 
good inany deer have died during the summer and fall of 
some disease. I can count about twenty skctetons in the 
woods near nic: they are yet plentiful, and 1 have heard 
of no recent cSfeasses; have heard of some dead ones 
near Fayetteville, N. C., sixty or seventy nules away. 1 
would like to hear from sportsmen in other .sections where 
this game abo und. J. P. C. 
A Tfip to Hoti^y Bfook. 
Of coili-sfe fevery New York man who is fond of fi^li- 
ing and hunting" tiliS some good friend liAung near his 
favorite grounds who along .Ibout May 20 every year 
writes something hke this: "Trout are fjHitie fine; bring 
a dozen brown midges and a box of lalycapofiV" The 
chy man's mind sees visions of former days full of spofl: 
•Hdtrl ft fflfed Komipanion. wliose name, aim and charac- 
tef M(t jll-H-^ys- Triie, jlHcl (ie; -^fites; "Will come on the 
OMd Sattifrd" jiy. «it)f ritef; Mm me M T.- at S A, M. and 
ivili .start for the HbxtAf. . t hdVe spiiie fe'afl eartfidgeS for 
your shotgtm and I'll .bring- friy ^AxM^ fof ihd (pff,. SQ 
that we may try for a de^f." ^ 
It is not necessary to tell any sportsman how business 
is ruslted or put off when one is (hhiking about liis happy 
hunting grounds in the Adirondacks. Preparations for 
a long summer outing arc quickly made and the New 
York Central coaches, full of happy anglers with (ffdr 
t'odS, eteels and nets, contained at least one man who 
had shaken the dtist of the town from his feet until Octo- 
ber. The suffocating tunnel,, reminiscent of what he has 
sUifeted for days, pefhaps. Is qtiickly passed, and the 
ioUtney i\p the Htidson is begtin. The brothers of the 
j-od and feel ffatefniz^e goftifoftably and the approximate 
Ibfcatibn Of eaeh iiian's destination is divulged with cus- 
tfefnai-y gaufiori.- At Poiighkeepsie tfle mm\ €o\A chicken, 
cdifefe, milk and sand-^viches ate eSfen.- The stout, jolly 
cohdtietoj- with his InSepflfable lantern is seated in his 
accusmtomed place at the nofth j^Jounter, and the gaodtJy 
bnifofmed genius of tlie "palaee" caf is telling him the 
latest i-ailroad joke. Your genial friend, who punched 
youf ticket so many limes, and finally, at loss what else 
to do. lately decorated youf hat with a long brown 5l(p, 
seems in no hurrv, and ordefS a seeond coffee. Yon 
glance at your watch, and thus doubly encouraged, try a 
second cup yourself. You determine to eat and drink 
more slowly in future, and gaze with undisguised con- 
ttilhpt vipofi yotlr fellow passengers, who in their efforts 
to secure a nieal ate making anacondas of themselves. 
But. see! The great ttian has Set his cup down to stay 
with an emphatic crash. He glances slyly at his big sil- 
\-er w-atch and shuts it vvitli a snap which makes ypu jump 
as he shouts "All aboard!" 
You hah a few minutes in liast Albany to give the 
engine a drink and slowly steam into the old depot at 
Troy. "All out here. Lake Champlain train oji right. 
It is -abotit 12:30- and you feel rather sleepy. As tlie 
crowd begins to gather, many familiar faces appear, and 
vou know that you are approaching your native county. 
'Bustling Assemblymen and politicians are getting home 
from the Legislature and a number of wealthy merchants 
and farmers whom you know nod kindly and enter into 
a pleasant conversation, about crops, .weather and local 
politics. . , . , 
Along about t A. M. a train backs mto the station and 
you see'the very Pullman car that came from New York 
surrounded by a bunch of yehow Delaware & Hudson 
coaches, all drawn by a giant engine. 
We are off for the North now in earnest, and White- 
hall is the next station of consequence. Lake Cham- 
plain new appears beneath the stars of the cool spring 
night glistening in the moonlight. The long tunnel is 
passed, and after a short nap a voice shoutmg "Addison 
Junction!" brings you to your leet. A kind traveler takes 
your grip and you follow with your rods, guns and other 
-duffle. Out in the gloom near the platform a dark object 
is trying to quiet a fiery little broncho mare from Ne- 
braska who doesn't like locomotives. I make a break 
for the silent man. grasp liis hand and throw m my traps, 
and we are off before the smart stage can even look at us. 
Tri.Kie keeps her steady trait fijr a tew minutes or so. and 
we can now plainly see the ruin* of old Ft. Ticonderoga, 
w-ith frownmg Mr. Defiance on the left 
At about 4 A. M. w^e pull up before a neat i:ottage on 
the outskirts of T, village, and while I am made com- 
fortable with a nice breakfasj; Tim jiiles m my traps, and 
with a triumphant flourish over the last buckle joins me 
for a cup of coffee." Few of the residents will be up for 
an hour yet. We must be off, and those great mountains 
off north must be penetrated by nightfall. There is good 
trout fishing all around T.. both in Lake George and in 
the creeks flowing from the mountain.s, but we will have 
none of it. We are off to a fabulous land teeming with 
fish and game and about thirty miles distant. 
True knows every yard of the country where he lives, 
but this new ground is familiar but to few. A city man 
happened to go there seventeen years ago when a college 
student. He had always wanted to revisit the locality 
where he used to catch a ten-quart pan full of large trout 
daily for the party of eight or ten on his hands, and True 
had been informed by local authorities that the city chap 
would know "where they were if any one did." 
Aft wc pass through the foothills of the Adirondacks 
the steep pitches of the rough roads often compel us to 
^valk and rest oiir horse, which follows us with delibera- 
tion. Pretty soon th« rain begins to (all softly, and it is 
strange how little both care for it. Root's hotel is where 
Ave stop and feed our little fnare and take a trout dinner 
in this famous old inn. In the winter the country people 
used to drive twent\--five or thirty tniles after chore time 
to the dances that were held in "the hall." where ^Laffy 
Spaulding. a well-known "caller" (still living in Crown 
Point), used to hold forth, with his band, leading with his 
old violin. 
The rain continues, but nothing daunted wc press on 
until about 4 o'clock, when a little rivulet is forded and 
the city man says: "True, put on a snell and try for our 
.supper here, while 1 let the horse blow and pull ail um- 
brella over myself." 
Finally the horse attendant awakes from his reverie 
and ask.s, "How many have you got?" "Thirty-five," is 
the terse response, and the angler, wdio had been a grace- 
ful object in his black velveteen shooting coat, came out 
showing a string of nice fish. 
The iittle mare now starts in for the finish and her mas- 
ters afC hnppy at the prospect of a trout supper. A large 
pond is passed, and a mile further on the city man grows 
thoughtful over a ecftain pair of bars leading down into 
a hollow. 
"The road used to be here/' he says; "but where is it 
now?" 
The rig is dra«*fi •carefully through a potato patch, and 
finally an unused trajl fomes into view- After a Jew 
turns' True cotumands "Pik in and ride." This is very 
'.leliglitful to the wet and weafy angler. It doesn't last 
iati^i -how«;ver, as a rough corduroy bridge full of danger- 
ous holf.H J*t)pearsj, The mare is ati interesting sight as 
she goes ovei' t^W treacherous timbers feeling her way 
from log to log like a eat- The rough road full of iniry 
holes and rough stony fjfaees is finally mastered as we 
enief^t? into a large clearing of about 150 acres. This 
was once fh^ well-tilled farm of a famous lumberman, 
now sleeping Avi'tJ? his fathers in a little New- England 
hamlet. Here are the dmrred ruins of St-veral fine barns 
and a large dwelling hott»«. A single thunderbolt one 
Sttfrittier'g night reduced this fine establishment to ashes 
Slid Mr. D, could never be persuaded to rebtsild. He 
itiid wade money and decided to pass the rest of his days 
in civi'H«H!tft«n where lightning rods exist. With a few 
loose boai'dt* afid a stake or two we improvise a shelter 
on the sharp 'Aopt of a hill overlooking a fine creek 
which contains in its dark, cool waters our principal food 
supply/ and will serve to keep our meat fresh indefinitely. 
Two poles rest on the slope, and down below about 15 
feet two strong forked stakes are driven and a pole 12 
feet long placed in the crotches. Boards are laid on and 
the whole covered whh two large overlapping rubber 
blankets, making as dry a tent as one could devise. Un- 
der a big pine log there are plenty of needles for the fire, 
and by peeling off the wet outside plenty of splinters are 
readilv cut. The fire is soon blazing, the fish m the big 
pan with the slices of fat pork are sizzling and a delicious 
odor arises from the blackened coft"ee pot left by some 
kind-hearted hunter or trapper. .A shout comes frort» 
the old broken-doAvn dam which lies at the head of a deep 
pool. True is wild, and the city man runs with a strong: 
net and litis out a big 3-pound speckled trout and carries 
it to the camp, which, being in charge of a supper, he 
cannot leave for long. The fish is put into a bag of 
"skeeter" netting and placed in a cold spring. More 
.sliouting from the fisherman, but the cook is obdurate 
and tells him to net his own game. 
Trixie stands at the t-nd of a new clothesline as ijear 
camp as she can get and lifts her graceful head from the 
yrass in astonishment at the noise from the pool. 
No veteran camper need be told about the delights of 
■:\ trout Slipper after a dav's work in the high altitudes of 
Boreas River. Preparations for sleeping are hastily made 
;iiid a lot of green spruce boughs effectually close in the 
open side-s of our .shack. The blazing fire forms our 
front protection, and wc throw lots of water between it 
and our house to prevent accident. Some deer hunters, 
.-'las! last fall were not so thoughtful, and one snapping 
cold night in September our house was burned to the 
ground, 
Breakfast is over by 3 o'clock, things are stored away 
and the mare fed. We decide to go up stream atoot as 
far as possible and fish down. We walk through the 
dense, moss-carpeted forest, full of the deeply worn trails 
of deer. An occasional splash in a deep bend of the creek 
indicates the position of a buck fighting the tormenting 
flies, standing in the cool water, and a sharp whistle is his 
cha-lienee to the intruders upon his privacy. 
Both" anglers have crossed the brook a few minutes 
later Avhen right from under a bush at their feet a fine 
young buck springs and is off like a flash. We find quan- 
tities of trout, but owing to the coldness of the water the 
large ones would not rise. So we return to the camp, de- 
termined to try our luck below the dam, where the fish 
are more presentable. 
\ scene of desolation awaits our return. In spite of 
Trixie's best wishes, a stray red cow of the usual moun- 
tain breed has taken a fancy to, invest! gate our little camp. 
;ind there is nothing left. The pork, butter, potatoes .and 
com meal are of course gone. The coffee had been 
itrewn about, the pickles wasted, and True always 
'.ists ihnt the ravenous beast deliberately ate iip a cut 
glass salt bottle in cold blood. There is nothing to do 
but take our weary way to civilization, as represented by 
■'The Branch." So we arrive at the residence of Mr,. 
Covin, where we are hospitably entertained and sleep iiii 
the new barn on the hay loft. 
Next morning a hasty glance at our stores revealed', 
two boiled eggs, two small cucumbers, a little salt and^ 
three crackers. This we divide and eat as we sit on thej 
tongue of an old mowing machine under the farmyardl 
shed. It is 4 o'clock, but Covell, who retired at 8 P. M.,. 
has already arisen and is off to his work on some one's; 
farm. Of course we couldn't wait to have a regular- 
breakfast, and. as our time is limited we take to the: 
Branch like a couple of deer. There are a few large trout; 
in the holes, and we soon have a good basketful. 
True is a fast fisher and his companion cannot keep-' 
up Avith him, unused to the rough country and weak from 
lack of food. A long, shallow pool is reached and a few 
trout are taken at the eastern end. True then crawls 
around the boulders and makes a cast in the swift water. 
The tip suddenly drops from a strike, and an instant later 
the head of a monster trout appears above the sparkling: 
rapids. The old "cornstalk" has been for three days, 
soaked by the rains and it yields at the tip from the 
enormous and sudden strain. There is a mighty splash 
and the city man sees a broad tail strike the surface al- 
most a yard liehind the angle of the line and water, 
"Did you see that?" asks True. 
"I should say so," is the reply. "Three-pounder if an 
ounce. You were rattled, old man; be calm, like me." 
"Well, I'll tell you," says True; "I thought at first that 
he was one of those little fellows until I saw him above: 
water, and then it was too late to do anything. Well, let; 
him go. Some good fellow will get him some other day.'" 
Not caring to fish after the bad luck, the city man sug- 
gests the trial of a little stream that meets the large creek 
Just above the scone of the recent struggle, saying that 
many years ago it had given him a mess about every day 
for a week. True rather demurs at the size of the brook,, 
which is only a rivulet, with a dreadfully rooty and 
rocky bed, but finally agrees to walk up the trad along its, 
banks for about a quarter of a mile, when he condescends 
to drop in a hook, which is immediately seized by a good- 
sized trout. He pockets the prize, nods approvingly and 
says: "Let's go up about half a mile further; then we'll 
fish her clean down to the creek." The word clean doesn't 
mean that we were after fingerlings. 
Pretty soon a bear trail is discovered, and bits of rasp- 
berry leaves, .slightly chewed, show where the animal has 
been feeding. Whenever a log lay across the path bruin 
would invariably crawl over it, never going around, and 
although the log might be supported by large stones or 
rocks 2 feet above the .ground, he would never pass under. 
Trapping has given these animals almost an additional 
sense — reason. Pretty soon we come to the large timber 
near a cedar swamp — the source of the stream — and while 
busy catching the fine 8-inch fish (for they average very 
evenly), a great splashing and floundering is heard iini 
the stream between the men. True calls: "Did you fail- 
in?" 
"No; did you?" is the reply. 
"That was our bear, then," says True. 
Both approach, and there, sure enough, bruin had been 
wallowing in the cool water under a birch sapling, while: 
huge tracks on the sand showed his hasty exit. Some 
berry bushes on the left bank had been badly flattened 
where he had just dined. The two angkrs continue 
down stream, with various adventures of the ordinary 
piscatorial character, until nightfall. Four fish are often 
caught at a cast from the two rods, and the baskets 
groaned. 
The little mare is glad to get her grain. A hasty sup- 
per is taken at a good Scotchman's house, and we start 
forth on our twenty-five-mile trip for the Vineyard Farm, 
where the city man is to spend his vacation. 
Through the dark night, over rough roads, our sure- 
footed Trixie picks her way. Each man takes turns 
sleeping on the other's shoulders, and by 3 A. M, the old 
log farmhouse is reached. Don, the country-bred "bird 
dog," comes rushing forth in wonder at the strange 
arrival, but is soon quieted, and the men are busy with 
their catch, -which is soon safely packed in the ice house 
in milk pans hastily snatched from the drying rack. As 
the household awakes a large pan' of dressed trout is 
found by the cook on the kitchen table, with the message, 
"True and I arrived at 3 o'clock. Cook these for the 
suests and let us alone until we want to get up. More 
fish in the ice house if wanted." Peter Fliijt. 
Pfke vs. Mttscalonge. 
Theresa, N. Y. — 1 was much interested in Mr. Tat- 
bott's article, "The Damnation of the Carp," in the Sept. 
16 number. I wish that he could as easily convince me 
that the lake pike (commonly called pickerel) that was 
introduced in Indian River here fifteen years ago has not 
nearly exterminated muscalonge, which w-as plenty before 
"the pickerel's" introduction. While now there is an occa- 
sional large muscalonge, there are still fewer small ones 
taken, and I attribute the cause to the "pickerel." 
I had poor luck on my trip. I saw only two ducks — 
water is too low and v.'eather too warm. I did not wear 
a coat on the water or in the woods during the three 
days. There are plenty of grouse and gray squirrels. I 
know a 3'oung farmer who got sixteen grouse and eight 
squirrels'last week without a dog, and he does not hunt all 
the time. While on the river to-day two pickerel (Esox 
hicius) tried to jump into my boat. I w^ould not "take 
in" the largest in the river to have it. but wotild row a 
week to get the largest muskalonge (Esox iiobilior) that 
I still think is in the river or lake, although not one has 
been caught this season. J. L. Davison. 
Clarence Goes Fishing. 
Little Clarence (with rising inflection)— "Pa?" Mr. 
Clippers— "Uh?" Little Clarence— "Pa, if a man fifty 
years old marries a girl of seventeen, and his son. aged 
twentv-five, marries the girl's mother, don't that make the 
old m'an the son-in-law of his own sou, and the father-in- 
law of himself; and— and, pa, can I go fi-shia' a'] thio 
Titernoon vvith Tohnny Jumpup if I svon't ask you any 
more questions?" Mr. Clippers (hastily)-— "Great guns! 
Yes!"— Puck- . .... ... 
