April 28, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ful but not serious cuts on his legs. He helped get the 
deer out ot the brush, but was rather stiff for a few days 
afterward. On our return to camp and while we were 
having a good smoke after a wonderfully welcome meal, 
he gave us the following advice: 
"When an old buck has some bullets in his hams and in his lungs. 
He does not care a nickel who he jams or who he bungs; 
But gets right down to business and mixes matters up 
In a manner disconcerting to tlie hunfar and his pup. 
He lunges and he plunges, and don't care where he hits. 
If he can punch the nimrod into little bits of bits. 
If he gets his deadly work in and gives you one good touch, 
You can bet your blooming hide won't be good for very much. 
So beware the wounded bucklet and do not fool around, 
You may find yourself transported to the Happy Hunting Ground." 
We usually do something to him when he gets ofif any 
of his doggerel, but this time we let him oft and put in 
the rest of our stay in quiet enjoyment of being alive in 
the beautiful woods. Jay Em. 
Stubble Rhymes.— II- 
The hunter's quill is from the wing *" 
I Of quarry in the bag; his lay _ 
And skit are based on hits. I sing j 
The misses o^ an autumn day. 
It was the time when grouse are ripe 
And quail are piping in the corn, 
Our party flushed a lonesome snipe ' - \ 
Near Nelsonville one frosty morn. ■ 
Sauntering o'er a rushy mead 
When up jumped Mr. Scalopax; 
"The honor's yours," the Major said. . 
His twist my skill did overtax. 
On sped the snipe, tke air he spurned; 
• In rushy mead we silent stood 
A moment nioi'e; the snipe returned, 
Loath to leave feeding ground so good. 
The Major quickly forward drew, 
The nut-brown stock his bronze cheek ki- 
A jeering "scaipe." How swift he flew ! 
And flying yet? Too true, we missed. 
Our comrades wink the weather eye, 
But comrades kind forbear to goad; 
We note the recognition sly 
And silently trudge down the road 
To wealth of woodlands wide and deep 
In which the tangled cow-paths run . « 
Through thickets dark where perdu keei 
The game we seek with dog and gun. 
See 3ronJer where twin sparkling streams 
Come singing from the forest glade, 
Their melody like voices seems 
From distant, dim cathedral shade. 
And in the pool below the bend 
That mirrors clear the upper air, 
The brown trout hide and often lend 
A dainty to. oiif bill of fare. 
And now what has the Mayor found? 
He answers low the question shout: 
"A mystic circle on the ground — ^ ' 
A dozen quail, tails in, heads out." 
Will he the huddled bevy bleed? 
At one fell shot the stubbles loot? 
A sportsman he above such greed 
And scorns a sitting bird to shoot. 
He feasts his eyes upon the sight, 
Then forward steps the game to flush : 
Away they go like arrow's flight — 
To tell the rest would make him blush. 
And yet that Greener often brought ^ 1 
The fleeting quarry to the earth ; 
Congratulations followed hot, 
Instead of overt, covert mirth; 
As faring o'er a Turk's domain, 
Two grouse rose wild before his gun; 
In seconds two he grassed the twain : 
They flushed : Bang ! Bang ! The spurs were won, 
A double on ruffed grouse ! In vain [ 
He says, " 'Tis naught," and loads his gtm, 
The triumph light in eye says plain, 
"Amen," when comrades chime, "Well done ] 
But what is Alma doing there 
By yonder fallen maple tree? 
Bold Cap stands staunchly, head in air; ' 
Ruffed grouse he has not less than three. 
What thrill of expectation lies, 
And big with possibility, 
In that brief time before the rise 
That shatters one's tranquillity 1 
A rush of wings athwart the glooni l' 
And Alma shows them simply this — 
What "might have been" the quarry's doom- 
How easy 'tis a grouse to miss! 
The consolations sweet and strong 
Then proffered by these aimless wight? 
Were soothing as the ceaseless song 
Mosquitoes sing on summer nights. 
The Mayor and the Boniface 
Were "hunting late — ^"t was afternoon— 
With Daisy Girl to set the pace 
For Flash, whose quest was quail or coon. 
He was declared — so deep of tongue, 
So long of wind and longer bounds 
Whene'er a cottontail was sprung — 
The deep despair of rabbit hounds. 
Anon he made a wider cast. 
On brow of hill he staunchly stood : 
"Ho. Mayor, see, he h^^ them fast! 
Who' calls our noble Flash no good?" 
"Make haste! Who says this sport is tame?" 
Up they climber with toil and trouble. 
There before them lay the game — 
Black pig rooting in the stubble. 
The pig astonished, raised his head 
And waved his ears. 'Tis passing strange 
The dog incontinently fled, 
) Showing wondrous speed and range. 
"Zounds !" cried the Mayor. "What a pace !" 
"When pork's tlie game he seems to blittk." 
"He's English, and," laughed Boniface, 
"A trifle shy of Boers, I think." 
Yet judge not Flash too harshly, friend, 
For bears have just as wildly fled 
To cover where the bulls contend 
When pork has raised its drooping head. 
The sun was set; the friends fagged on 
With ample bags a burden sweet, 
When from some ferns near Little John 
A brace of quail like shadow^s fleet 
Went swift away. The tubes of steel 
/ Too quickly spoke ; and wide the mark 
As when unsteady diners feel 
For fickle key holes after dark. 
Then Colonel shot; the soaring quail 
Make merry of his shooting gear 
/ While passing harmless from the hail 
i' Which perforates the atmosphere. 
/ Poor Boy! Such shooting sends him home 
With nameless pain and protest dumb. 
While phantom colics flit and roam 
1 Aroxmd his pericardium. 
L*Eavoi. 
: What law occult and deep-concealed 
Affects the gun that not a thing 
Escapes indoors, which in the field 
Accelerates the fleeting wing? 
Unerring aim is not the boon 
That tyros think. Who has not learned. 
The misses of an afternoon 
Are sauce piquante to all concerned? 
With lamps aglow, the gloom dispelled. 
While after-dinner wreaths ascend 
* And o'er each bird post-mortem held, 
How well the hits and misses blend! 
7 Alma. 
My First Tiger. 
Big-game shooting is verily the "sport of kings." It 
requires nerve and coolness, and it is a sport that none 
but the rich can indulge in, unless one's vocation takes 
him to those parts of the world where the monarchs of 
he forest are found. As a British military officer this 
'.vas the case with me. Having traveled and hunted in 
many countries where big game exists, and being pas- 
sionately fond of the sport, it may be imagined that I 
reveled in it to my heart's content on every possible op- 
portunity. As tiger shooting is to me the most fascinat- 
ng and delightful of all big-game hunting, I will en- 
eavor to give a brief account of how "Stripes" is brought 
■"o bay by Englishmen who indulge in this glorious sport. 
In central and southern India the tiger is hunted gen- 
rally by being driven by beaters, who surround the spot 
where he is supposed to be in a semi-circle and drive him 
out toward the part which is left open, and where the 
htmter or hunters are posted, either on the lower branches 
of trees or on a rock or boulder, or somewhere where they 
can get a good sight and have free range. In northern 
\ndia elephants are used for driving tigers, and the hunt- 
sErs sit on the elephants' backs in howdahs and shoot from 
there. It aft'ords some idea of the spectacle of a big tiger 
hunt given by one of the great Nabobs for the benefit of 
his guests to know that as many as four hundred ele- 
phants are sometimes used to beat up and drive the tigers. 
Another method is sitting up over kills — that is, sitting up 
at night a short distance from the carcass of a cow or buf- 
falo which the tiger has killed the night before, and wait- 
mg until he comes for his nightly meal. 
Great swells and prominent persons who visit India 
for pleasure and are fortunate enough to form the ac- 
quaintance of the hospitable princes arid nobles of the 
country are almost always treated to a tiger hunt. It is 
a most imposing and elaborate afifair, no pains nor ex- 
pense being spared to make a success. The howdah ele- 
phants are as a rule enorraoits tuskers, perfectly trained and 
accustomed to this particular sport. The pad elephants 
are smaller, and ridden by a single mahout sitting on the 
neck, are used for beating up the game. As stated, three 
or four hundred elephants may be employed in a drive 
like this. They form in a huge circle or semi-circle, which 
gradually closes in and the tiger is beaten up. Then the 
fun begins. If he is shot and wounded the probabilities 
are that he will charge the nearest elephant, sometimes 
getting on to the animal's back, and occasionally into the 
howdah itself. The howdah elephants are very bold and 
will stand a tiger's charge heroically, but the pad ele- 
phants often get terribly scared and rush off, causing a 
panic among the others, when the line is broken and the 
tiger very likely escapes. 
I do not like the practice of shooting from elephants, 
for though it is most exciting, particularly if there happen 
to be two or three tigers in the circle, still I do not call 
it true sport, If the ring is well kept, the drive well 
conducted and the elephants well trained, the tiger has 
little chance for his life ; he may charge and maul half a 
dozen elephants, kill a mahout or two, and frighten a 
dozen or so more almost to death; still, do what he will, 
he is the target for several rifles, and as the ring gradually 
closes in on him the result is almost always his death at 
frightful odds. No, I do not call it real sport. Every- 
thing I h:«; ever shot I have killed on foot, and that is 
where the fascination of the sport comes in — the expecta- 
tion, the feeling of a tinge of danger, yet the reliance one 
places in his own nerve and coolness and the accuracy of 
his rifle. I will say, however, that in a dense jungle 
where there are no rocks or boulders to get upon in order 
to see, one is obliged to take advantage of some elevation 
in order to have a ghost of a chance to discover a tiger' 
unless he comes out suddenly right on top of you, which 
is not pleasant. 
This point of vantage is generally the lower branch of a 
tree, just high enough to command a good range. How- 
i'.ver, I wotild never get up a tree unless it was absolutely 
necessary, because of an experience I once had. 
I was camping in a district where tigers were known 
to be, and after tving up for three nights without re- 
sults, on the fourth, one of the water buffaloes — native 
cow of the country — wn<5 killed: arrangements were made 
for the beat, and at midday, when the tiger after his heavy 
tneal is soundest asleetx we started td bi»at hin] up. The 
jungle w^'s thtek stVub, well wdode'd, w'ith sl^veVal wind- 
ing nullahs or dry watercourses, where in many places 
the growth was very thick and afforded excellent cover. 
The beaters were sent a long way round — I had about 
300 of them — watchers were posted in trees to signal the 
tigers, and my shikaree placed me in a tree about 12 
feet from the ground and cut down the branches and 
foliage in front of me, giving me an excellent view of a 
comparatively bare spot in the jungle, where he said they 
would drive the tiger, and "Master would have a good 
shot." After a while the sound of the tom-toms and 
shouts of the beaters were heard in the distance, and as 
the sound gradually increased as they came nearer, my_ 
heart went pit-a-pat; for, like all young big-game hunters, 
I expected to see the tiger the momerit the beaters began 
to drive. However, on they came, and the first thing L 
saw was a beautiful peacock flying straight for me, and 
it sailed clean across my bows ; then came a hyena, then a 
jungle sheep followed by two small spotted deer ; and 
shortly afterward a black bear with a couple of cubs came 
bundling along, all within easy range, and you may 
imagine how I itched to be at them. But I was after 
tigers, and to have shot at anything else would simply 
have meant to have lost the tiger if he was there. This 
is one of the sweet temptations that the tiger hunter has 
to undergo ; he must shoot at nothing else, for the tiger 
will assuredly turn away from the direction of the shot, 
and if there is no other channel of escape for him, will 
break through the beaters as sure as fate. There I s^t. 
The beaters were now not more than a quarter of a mile 
from me, and I began to think that we had missed the 
tiger, or that he had got away unseen, when all at once I 
thought I saw a shadow on my left, and turning my eyes 
that way I saw a magnificent tiger sitting on his haunches 
listening, his tail moving from side to side, and the sun 
shining upon his striped and yellowish skin. Yes, there 
he sat asking to be shot if ever a tiger invited it. He was 
broad side on and not more than 25 yards away. 
I almost fancied I could see his magnificent head and 
handsome skin adorning the hall of the old house at home, 
I was sitting facing the bare spot before alluded to, and 
was looking in almost the opposite direction, and the 
first knowledge I had of the tiger's presence was the 
shadow I have just mentioned. 
The boughs of the tree prevented me from turning to 
get a shot. I tried to do everything; shoot from my left 
shoulder, then with one hand ; and seeing I could _ do 
nothing without moving, and knowing at the same time 
that if he saw me he would be off in an instant, I slung 
myself round to face him and almost fell out of the 
tree. His quick eyes detected me in a second; and he 
was up and off. I sent both barrels after him, but only to 
see him disappear in the jungle unharmed and untouched. 
In speaking of tiger hunting, I must explain that no one 
thinks of going after tigers unless he knows them to be in 
a certain neighborhood. In my young and ardent days I 
went out time after time, in spite of the protests of my 
shikarees, and never even saw nor heard of a tiger. The 
mode of procedure is this: You send your shikarees out 
during the wet season, when it is impossible to shoot, not 
only on account of the rains, but also because of the 
luxurious vegetation which makes the jungle so dense. 
They remain away a month or two, perhaps three, and 
then the head shikaree comes in and reports, leaving the 
others where the tigers are. These fellows will tell you 
how many tigers there actually are in the neighborhood 
for miles and miles around; they will also tell you how 
many of these are tigers, how many tigresses and how 
many half-grown ones, etc., although they may not actually 
have seen one, so expert are they in tracking and com- 
paring the size and character of the "pugs' " footprints. _ 
If the shikaree's report is favorable j'ou lose no time in 
getting off with your camp. A tiger hunting camp is quite 
a transport, for things are easily carried by bullocks and 
camels. Coolie hire is cheap, and the average Britisher 
likes ease, comfort and good food wherever he goes. 
Having got pitched in a comfortable and shady place 
near water, and having had a good sleep, for you have 
perhaps ridden for two or more days, resting, of course, at 
different points, for the shikaree who has gone back with 
your servants, tents, rifles, provisions, etc., in order to 
have everything ready for your arrival, has left you a 
very good" idea of the route. The next thing to do is to 
buy from the natives several water buffaloes — the native 
cows of the country. These are tied up to trees at different 
likely places in the jungle before nightfall, and by their 
bellowing they attract the tigers if in the neighborhood and 
anywhere within earshot, and if they are not, the shikarees 
take good care to place the cows at points where they 
know the tigers are in the habit of going. 
If there has been a kill, arrangements are at once made 
for a drive, and with this object in view, two or three 
hundred natives, or more if it is a difficult country to 
Iseat. from the surrounding villages are sent for. The 
people assemble at the camp,, bringing their native musical 
instruments, tom-toms, etc., with them, and gladly tender 
their services for what in American money would amount 
to about two or three cents a day. 
The head shikaree then gets the whole crowd of 
beaters off in charge of his subordinates, maybe a mile or 
so away from where the buffalo was killed, or perhaps 
more, for the tiger has been carefully tracked in the 
direction to where he has gone to lie up and sleep through 
the day after his hearty meal, for he is sure to have sought 
the thickest part of the jungle to lie down and snooze 
until the "dragon wing of night o'erspreads the earth," 
when he will, if undisturbed, emerge from his retreat and 
with stealthy tread, ever watchful eye, and always on 
the alert, approach in silence to feast again upon his victim 
of the night before^ Shikaree. 
New York Pheasants. 
At a meeting of the New York Fisheries, Game and 
Forest Commission last week, Mr. James H. Annin was 
removed from the office of Superintendent of Hatcheries, 
a position held by him for five years. The cause of the 
removal was stated to be Superintendent Annin's refusal 
to obey the orders of the Commis-sioners respecting the 
distribution of the Mongolian pheasants bred at the Bath 
hatchery. There were 500 of the birds, and when the 
Commission recently decided to distribute them, they 
were informed by Mr. Annin that the birds had already 
been sent out bv order of Etiwarti B'*'^-'*^'<dii a brotV^r of 
Cdmmissidn'er Babccick, 
