Forest and stream. 
6S 
ried away into the darkness. I was too glad to see that 
coon to think of killing him. 
Dawn came at length, and at its first blush I resumed 
vuy weary way, following the course laid out the night 
before. Presentlj', along about 7 o'clock of my second 
morning, I came to something which demolished the 
fruits of my researches as regards the watershed, and for 
a time shook my faith in the compass. This was a con- 
siderable stream of water, in a deep, well-defined cafion, 
flowing due west. Now, had I but known it, this was the 
identical stream which I crossed the night before, and 
which was then flowing due east. Since I had last seen 
it it had encircled the base of a mountain, gathering the 
w-aters of several small tributaries en route, and had then 
swung around, heading for the ocean. I was thoroughly 
stumped, for the pocket map which I had studied at 
Rowe's showed no stich divagation. I realized at once 
that I stood beside a branch of the Noyo; that hence I 
must be very much further west than I had dreamed I 
was; but what I couldn't comprehend was how by steer- 
ing a southerly course I could in a comparatively few 
miles, traveUng from a point where waters flowed eastward 
— i. e., Eel River waters — reach a point where they flowed 
westward — i. e., were Noyo waters. The conclusion was ir- 
resistible — the compass was inaccurate. What that fool 
of a compass called south was really west. The sun by 
this time was well up, and I tested the compass by it. 
Lo! it seemed to be perfectly accurate. I tried it again 
and pondered a long time before deducing any conclu- 
sion from this phenomenon. Even to himself in the soli- 
tude of a forest, a man hates to admit that he is a drivel- 
ing idiot; that he does not know his right hand from his 
left; that he cannot tell which way the water is running 
in a stream along which he has waded for half an hour. 
While debating this question with myself I discovered 
that if I was hungry the night before I was now ravenous, 
so I filled up on Noyo water and unripe raspberries in the 
proportion of seven to the pint. My decision was to 
travel due east, regardless of obstacles, until I could come 
across something which gave promise of being a consider- 
able mountain; then to climb that and scan the horizon for 
some familiar object. After many false starts and finally 
a terrific scramble through thorny brush and tangled 
huckleberry bushes (they grow out here like trees) at 
noon r stood upon the bald summit of a great hill, from 
which I enjoyed an unobstructed view, and far to the east 
I saw an oblong bare spot on a mountain side which I 
recognized as being above the road between Willets and 
Mendocino City. I gave myself a couple of hours to get 
there, but night was falling when I finally reached the 
road, and_ there sat a jack rabbit beside the fence. Strange 
to say, with the exception of the coon, this was the only 
living thing fit for human food which I encountered after 
losing myself. I was sorely tempted, for I was hungry 
enough to eat him an natural; but better counsel pre- 
vailed, and having tramped my eight miles along the road 
into Willets. I dismayed the hotel keeper with my appe- 
tite and depleted his larder. 
As for the panther: At about the time I was comparing 
my compass with the sun, a mangy 3felIow cur treed him 
half a mile below the Quakeress' house, and a gentleman 
wifh aureoled wh'skers plentennsly bedrabbled with "the 
expressed juices of the weed Nico ia," plugged his tawny 
carcass chock full of buckshot from a smooth-bore car 
bine, fired at 30 feet. I was offered what was left of the 
pelt for a consideration, but declined to purchase. 
Marin. 
Sam's Boy. — IX. 
One sunmier day Sammy aspired to the glory of killing 
a woodchuck, and it occurred to him that Drive might 
be a help to him, though just how he had no very definite 
idea. His father always took Drive when he went hunt- 
ing foxes and raccoons, therefore why should he not be 
useful in woodchuck hunting? So, equipped with his 
bow and two arrows, he went to the old hound where he 
lay basking in the sun, 
"Come, Drive," he called, cheerily; "le's go an' kill a 
woo'chuck !" 
The old dog beat the ground languidly in recognition 
of his young master's voice, but made no further move- 
ment mitil the invitation was repeated. Then he raised 
his head and regarded the child with a look of puzzled 
inquiry on his furrowed brow. 
"Yes, Drive! Kill woo'chuck!" Sammy cried, present- 
ing the bow for olfactory inspection, but Drive failed to 
recognize it as a sporting weapon, and snapping at an 
intrusive fly stretched himself at length again with a 
restful sigh. "Oh, come, you ol' dog I Don't be so lazy," 
said Sammy, and coaxed and patted until the hound 
arose stiffly and followed a little way slowly wagging 
his tail, and the boy ran on, feeling himself now indeed a 
hunter with a hound at heel. 
Presently, looking back he saw the old dog sitting 
down, only following with his eyes, and then arising 
turned stiffly and awkwardly, uttered an impatient whine, 
and hobbled to the lilac tree, where after briefly going 
through the usual form of nest-making, he lay down. 
Sammy felt himself grievously slighted, and vented his 
vexation in some disparaging remarks as he went on alone 
to his hunting ground. 
There sure enough was a woodchuck, sitting bolt up- 
right on his earthen threshold, but not all the young 
hunter's care and caution availed to bring him within 
bow shot of the wary quarry, that seemed to have an eye 
on every side, for when Sammy stealthily stalked him 
from behind almost witliin bow shot, down went the up- 
right brown form as if swallowed by the earth, and out of 
its depths came a chuckling derisive whistle. Drive's 
presence could have availed nothing but to hasten the 
result, yet Sammy's only consolation for failure was in 
attributing it to the dog's perversity, for which he gave 
him hard names and bitter reproaches, that he was after- 
ward glad were unheard by their object. He made the 
round of all the woodchuck resorts known to him, with 
no better fortune, and then went home in no happy frame 
of mind. ■ , 
There lay the old dog under I3ie lilac, whose shaSe had 
slowly slid away and left him in the full glare of llle 
sun. ... 
"Oh, Drive, wa'n't you a mean, lazy oI' thing not to go 
'long wi' me, an' such lots o' woo'chucksl" Sammy called 
out as he came near. But there was no responsive beat of 
the slender tail, nor lifting of the grizzled head in 
recognition of the childish voice. "Wal, you be lazy if 
you won't wiggle your tail !" Sammy said, wondering at 
this strange unwonted apathy. "Drive ! Drive ! What 
ails ye?" Still there was no sign. A swarm of flies 
buzzed unmolested about the ruffled brow and crept at 
will over the silken eai", always till now so sensitive. The 
hooped, mottled side was rigid, there was no tremor of 
the great feet stirred in some glorious chase of dream- 
land. 
The mysterious essence of life that dwells in men and 
dogs, and dreams dreams, had departed forever to the 
happy hunting grounds, where perhaps dreams come true. 
Sammy lifted one of the long soft ears ; it was cold as 
stone, though the hot sun shone full upon it. A great 
awe and grief came upon him, and he ran in to his 
mother, choking with sobs. 
"Oh, mammy !" he cried, burying his face in her lap. 
"Drive's dead, an' — an' I called him names the last thing 
I said tu him !" 
Huldah and x\unt Jerusha, and later Uncle Lisha and 
Timothy Lovel, went out to verify the sad announce- 
ment, and when Sam came in from hoeing, the heavy news 
was imparted to him. 
A group of sincere mourners stood around the grave, 
made restful to look upon by a lining of ferns, and when 
Sam tenderly assigned to it his faithful old friend and 
companion, he said, with a tremor in his voice, "It some- 
haow seems's 'ough men lived tew long, erless dawgs 
didn't live long enough." 
Rowland E. Robinson, 
[to be continued next week.] 
New Brunswick. 
Since returning with my moose from New Bruns- 
wick last season my mail has brought me many inquiries 
from widely different parts of our country in relation to 
the Province and other subjects, which form the sub- 
title to this article — inquiries about the country, its 
people, game laws, game, routes, conveyances, expense, 
prospects for getting big game, ajid many other things 
about which information would likely be sought by 
sportsmen of experience in the wilderness after big game 
and who might be contemplating a trip to a strange 
country, together with running comments thereon. 
To answer all has taken much time, but all have had 
answer, as will any others which may follow; but think- 
ing that the subject might be of interest, and possibly 
suggestive and helpful to many more who desire similar 
information, but who might not feel at liberty to ask for 
it, it has seemed to me best to state generally in the 
columns of the sportsmen's publicatio^n likelv to be 
reached by the greatest number, the gist of the inquiries, 
objections and comments made and the replies thereto. 
To most sportsmen in the United States New Bruns- 
wick is a geographical entity only — a small spot upon the 
map of the Continent, easily covered by the thumb — and 
what can such a dot contain that would attract or 
interest them? 
The old adage has it, "Nothing is great save by com- 
parison"; and what is such an insignificant area in com- 
parison to the seeming endless expansion of territory to 
the west and southw^est? 
Some who have written to me complainingly say that 
while it ought to be of us and with us, it is not — that it 
flies and seems loyal to a foreign flag that was lowered 
to the Stars and Stripes on American soil more than a 
hundred years ago, and that they have no more love for 
It to-day and what it symbolizes than did their stout- 
hearted forbears in '76, and while they would like to 
sample its fish and game, these convictions and senti- 
ments are difficult to overcome or suppress, and their 
constant out-cropping would make them ill at ease in 
such environment. 
And others again writing from a distance, inquire if the 
Province is not too far away, the game too difficult of 
access, and if the Government does not maintain too 
great surveilance over visiting sportsmen, and if it has 
not too much inquisition, inspection, overhauling of bag- 
gage, collecting of customs, too high a license fee for 
hunting big game, too stringent game laws, and if the 
guides are not prompted by Government officials and 
prominent sportsmen to extort outrageous fees for very 
poor service and the most primitive and indefferent ac- 
commodations? 
And many have come to think — and have so expressed 
themselves— that they seem to hear "You must! You 
must!" echoed and re-echoed by every passing breeze; 
and when you tell a son of Uncle Sam "You must!"— 
well, there is an excellent chance for an argument, and at 
best a disagreement. 
And others express themselves as expecting to see if 
they ever arrive in New Brunswick £ s. d. emblazoned 
upon every leaf and impressed upon every snowflakc, 
and a stand-and-deliver command from every person 
whose service they might require. 
And again others admit that they are incredulous, 
doubting Thomases, so to speak, who believe the claims 
of the Province put forth to attract sportsmen, are but 
the old glad-hand-song-and-dance act put forth to in- 
veigle them out of their money, and which are so much 
in evidence elsewhere. 
These stated generally, and some of them verbatim, are 
among the more prominent complaints and objections as 
they have come to me, and asking for my personal ex- 
perience in relation thereto, especially in so far as it 
would tend to their confirmation, modifiation, explana- 
tion or denial. 
A surprising fact in relation to these inquiries im- 
pressed me with singular force — not one was received 
from a man who hunted moose by calling or who de- 
fended the practice. On the contrary, several denounced 
this method as heartless, cold-blooded butcherv, un- 
sportsmanlike, and which should not have official sanc- 
tion in any civilized country at the dawn of the twentieth 
century. 
Grouping and condensing my answers, they were given 
substantially as subjoined. 
There is no place in the Western Hemisphere of equal 
or even much larger area, and probably not in the world, 
especially so near centers of population and ease of access, 
so abounding in extensive forests (about ten millions o£ 
acres of wilderness, the natural home of moose and cari- 
bou), that will at all compare with New Brunswick, nor 
which can truthfully boast of as much big game to the 
square mile. 
Deer are not yet much in evidence, although men of 
observation and experience, and who are in the best 
position to judge, aver that they are rapidly increasing 
in numbers. 
For deer alone New Brunswick does not compare fa- 
vorably with Maine; for caribou only Newfoundland is 
far superior; but for the lordly moose, the object of the 
Eastern sportsmen's highest ambition, and caribou, 
neither alone nor both together are so sure to reward 
the effort as a trip to the wilderness and barrens of New 
Brunswick. 
The subject not being now under consideration, we 
will not allude to the number and quality of her famous 
trout streams or her many salmon rivers of world-wide 
fame. 
To the objection of distance and difficulty of access 
answer was made that many sportsmen in the United 
States do not find a trip to the land of perpetual winter 
within the arctic circle, to the glaciers of Alaska, to the 
summits of the Hamalayas, or to the jungles of India, too 
far away, as presenting too many obstacles to surmount 
or an outlay of time and money that is prohibitive; nor 
the presence of alien flag or difr'erent laws and customs 
an intolerant and repeling obstacle. . 
Certainly such, and individuals with the right stufl" 
in them, will not find a trip to any of the maratime prov- 
inces other than a school-boy experience in comparison. 
Then again, the real sportsman, the sportsman deserv- 
ing the name, is a gentleman, respecting and respected, 
tolerant and tolerated. Being keen of observation, hav- 
ing a well-informed and well-balanced mind, and positive 
convictions, if you will — he knows and respects the 
rights and feelings of others, and his good breeding and 
manly training prompt him to carefully avoid all mooted 
questions of religion, country, politics and the like, as 
becomes a gentleman and cosmopolite; and to such a 
sportsman will be extended a warm welcome and the 
right hand of fellowship whenever he visits New Bruns- 
wick. 
But there are sportsmen and sportsmen. Sportsman- 
ship is a very loose term, and it is so indefinite and 
elastic as to permit many, very many, to masquerade 
under its guise who are no credit to, and who should 
be refused fellowship in, the guild. This is nowhere 
better known and appreciated than in New Brunswick. 
This element her people do not want, and they are not 
timid or backward .in saying so; and if her laws and 
customs prevent their coming, then are her laws and cus- 
toms very satisfactory to themselves. 
I was informed by several of the leading citizens in 
government station, prominent people and guides, that 
this was one of the ends aimed at in the enactment of her 
fish and game laws — the other being the propagation, de- 
velopment, protection and conservation of their fish and 
game. 
The people generally in station high or humble are 
frank in their avowal that they do not propose to have 
their country overrun, and their fish and game destroyed 
and possibly exterminated, as they have been in many 
places in our own country by such an army as is attracted 
to other places by managers of railroads, proprietors of 
hotels, camp owners and guides, and whose shameful and 
unlimited killing is invited, applauded and advertised to 
swell its ever and rapidly growing numbers. 
The fish and game of New Brunswick belong to her 
people, and who will question their right to name the 
conditions under which they may be taken by residents 
and non-residents? 
If such conditions as are imposed are not satisfactory 
to non-residents they may stay at home or go else- 
where, and no one will complain. If, on the other hand, 
a wise foresight protects, develops and perpetuates this 
big game, prized trout and lordly salmon, will any one 
with the head and heart of a man not approve? And if 
her laws and customs exclude this army of destruction, 
then are not her laws and customs to be commended and 
continued in the interest of higher and better sportsman- 
ship and the conservation of her fish and game? 
The question of a high license fee may be regarded as 
involved in and sufficiently answered by the foregoing; 
but should it still seem unjustified to some, I have asked 
if when two weeks' time are taken for a trip to the woods 
in midwinter after the big game, and possibly the only 
two weeks for recreation and recuperation available dur- 
ing the twelve months of the year, when traveling ex- 
penses, supplies, guides and the many other little neces- 
saries have been paid for, is it not better to pay the added 
expense of a license and be reasonably sure of getting 
what you go for, than to go elsewhere and save this ex- 
pense and be reasonably certain of not getting what you 
go for? 
And this, it seems to me, is a correct sizing up of the 
situation, and a full justification of the license fee 
charged. 
In the moose country of New Brunswick, with almost 
any apology for a guide to show you the lay of the 
land, and how best to get to and from your camp and 
hunting grounds only one IF, and it had better be spelled 
with capitals, intervenes between you and your moose, 
providing you know your business and no acident be- 
falls. 
Y'our success or failure will almost certainly depend 
upon the weather conditions—if the ground is not too 
dry, so that the leaves rustle; if it don't rain great guns; 
if it don't sleet; if the snow don't thaw and then freeze 
and form a crust; in fine, should you be favored with 
good weather and especially with a dry, fluffy snow— and 
doubly fortunate will you be should a good stiff wind ac- 
company the latter and make the trees creak and groan 
and the limbs rattle — then the big moose you sought for 
without avail for so many years is at your mercy, and 
steady nerves and careful aim will certainly make him 
yours. 
In New Brunswick you will not find the tidy camps, 
good service and skilled guides of the Adirondacks, 
Maine and other leading sportsmen's resorts, and this 
will serve to remind and impress upon you the truth 
and force of the old French saving. "Chaque pays a sa 
guise." Certain it is every country and every people have 
their peculiar ways and customs, and New Brunswick 
is no exception. 
