£64 
plain ordinary pussy cats. But now that it is known that 
the great State of California has gone wholesouled into 
the business of raising hares for hasenpfeffer, you ean 
call for it with perfect confidence that you are not gettmg 
accidentally defunct mousers. If you will only stop to 
think of it, you may never have eaten hasenpfeffer, but 
just as soon as our crop gets on the market you'll see 
what's what. 
"Belgians are a sort of blue bunny, just about the 
same size as white rabbits, with pink eyes, but much 
better shaped. The color is blue, somewhat like a 
Maltese cat, and that color is one of the great points that 
you get marks on when they hold shows. Another thing 
is the marks on the paws; that counts high too. You 
get more marks on shape, and the thing to avoid is to 
let the little beggars get paunchy. If you let them out 
in the sunlight the color sort of fades, and a bunny from 
hundred-dollar stock may just through this mistake be 
marked so low that you can't get more than two bits for 
it. If they get their feet wet, that knocks out the fine 
marking on the paws, and then more of your profit gets 
marked off. If they eat too much, particularly when 
they are young, the shape goes all off. So you see blue 
bunnies are enough to keep you sitting up nights. The 
best way is to keep them in the cellar, in separate hutches, 
and when you go into a strange house you can tell the 
moment you enter the door if they are Belgian enthu- 
siasts. The smell fixes it. It sort of reminds you of the 
menagerie in the circus, maybe not so strong, but quite 
as penetrating. You've got to be mighty careful about 
their feed. First thing in the morning you give them 
some' chopped up carrot. Then at noon you can give 
them some lettuce or a little cabbage. At night you let 
them have some alfalfa hay. That's what I think is best 
for them, but there are some people who will tell you 
that's all wrong. To tell the truth, nobody does know 
exactly. One thing is certain, you may give your Bel- 
gians whatever you think best — that's your own lookout; 
but whatever you give them, you must be sure to take 
it out of the hutches just as soon as they stop eating. 
The habit of nibbling between meals is worse Tor blue 
bunnies than it is for children. And that reminds me, 
if you're going to keep Belgians you've got to dispose 
of your children. A baby's one idea of the usefulness of 
a bunny is to swing it around by the ears. Belgians 
won't stand that. Why, I've known a registered Belgian 
go off sixty points just in a single interview with a 
four-year-old kid; its ears were hopelessly stretched. 
And you cannot leave Belgians to your servants; you've 
got to make them part and parcel of your own life, and 
a good big part at that. 
"These are not any sort of a cheap recreation. White 
rabbits are scarcely salable at two bits apiece, but 
Belgians mean money. You can get a pair for $50, but 
that's a mistaken economy; it's a mistake that beginners 
make, but they never make it again after they have once 
entered their young Belgians in a show and seen them 
hopelessly ©utclassed. When you start in to raise Bel- 
gians the best are none too good. If you start with 
pedigree stock it will cost you $150 a pair, and even then 
you are never quite sure of what you are getting. _ The 
real way is to begin with registered stock, best pedigree, 
and prize winners. That will cost you $250 or $300 a 
pair, but you have the satisfaction of knowing that you 
have started right. Of course, your leverets will not all 
turn out prize winners; no matter how careful you are, 
they will slip out into the sunlight and there goes your 
color, and it is an awful task to keep them from getting 
their little feet wet, which is .simply ruination to the 
markings on the paws. Still if you give your whole 
time to it you ought to raise a good percentage of prize 
winners, and the others will bring a good price in the 
market — not thq highest price, of course, but something 
pretty nearly as good. 
"It is the great topic with all California this season. 
The papers are writing editorials about the Belgians, and 
every paper is running a special department on the sub- 
ject, and the advertising would simply astonish you. 
The future of California is assured. The hares bid fair to 
do more for the State than the placers ever did. Once 
in a while you will find some old fossil who gets in the 
way of progress. They've got a lot of stock arguments. 
They compare this sound business investment to the 
Dutch tulip mania, or they call attention to the damage 
that rabbits have done in Australia, or they cite the need 
for the jackrabbits drives in Fresno. But you know 
how that is, no matter where you go, you will find some 
men who never have the sense to take up with new ideas 
of prosperity. With these few exceptions all California 
has gone wild over Belgian hares, and those of us who 
were in at the beginning of the boom are going to make 
lots of money. Just look at it a moment. Only think 
of the number of people in the United States who have 
never eaten hasenpfeffer, thought it was pussy cat 
stewed. Well, all those people are going to eat it at 
their dinner tables, and they are going to clamor for it 
at their restaurants, just as soon as they know that out 
in California we are breeding the Belgians just for them. 
I don't believe that there are more than a million people 
who now eat hasenpfeffer, but call it twenty millions if 
you like; that leaves us more than fifty millions who are 
going to eat it within the next few years, and probably 
the coming census will increase the fieure enormously. 
That's oniv our domestic market. I don't say a word 
about the export trade, in cold storage, that i"; hound to 
spring up. But the prospect is simply nve'-\vhelmmg. 
It's the biggest boom there has ever been in California." 
Llewell.\ Pierce CiruRciiiLL. 
The Linnaean Society of New York. 
Regular meetings of the Society will be held in the 
American Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh 
street and Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evenings, Oct. 9 
and 23, at 8 o'clock. 
Oct. o.— Frank M. Chapman. "Bird Studies with a 
Camera." Illustrated with lantern slides. 
Oct. 23.— Jonathan Dwight, Jr. "The Moult of the 
Shore Birds (Limicolce) of North America." 
Walter W. Granger, Sec'y. 
American Museum OF Natural History. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. 
Gens des Bois. ^ _ 
Vni.— Plomadore. 
Plumadore Pond is a beautiful lake near the northern 
limits of the Adirondack forest. It was once in the heart 
01 a famous hunting country, and though to-day ap- 
proached by the ruthless clearings of the Chateaugay 
Iron & Ore Company, who are converting the timber 
from a principality thirty-seven miles long and five or 
six miles wide into charcoal and pulp, and though it 
is only a question of a few years when the Canuck 
nctters and coasters will have potted the last of its troiit 
and deer, the pond, has a claim for recognition for all 
lime as the sole monument of the noble old Indian who 
gave it his name. ^ , -n 
This man, who was born about the close of the Kevo- 
lutionary War, lived to be a hundred years of age, and 
in the pioneer days of the Adriondacks was one of its 
best known characters. At the present time his old 
associates are all dead, and there are few living who 
remember Plumadore. even in his final retirement on 
his little hop farm on Deer River. 
The Adirondack historian of to-day has gotten the 
commercial aspect of things implanted far too firmly 
in his ego. To him there was nothing in the woods be- 
fore Paul Smith gave up peddling stoves for hotel 
keeping. Titus in his book, "Adirondack Pioneers," 
gives space to a select galaxy of bartenders and does not 
fail to mention Mary Ryan, the chambermaid, but no- 
where is there anything of the Plumadores, Sabilles or 
"Sangermas." To Dr. Knapp of Essex, formerly of 
Malone, N. Y., I am indebted for the particulars of the 
following slight sketch oi Plumadore. 
From Priest to Hunter. 
Plumadore was born in troublous times and first ap- 
pears as a waif picked up by the good fathers in a Jesuit 
mission in Montreal. His parents had been killed in the 
raid of some hostile band, and the boy never knew any 
family or tribal ties. At the mission he made good 
progress in his studies, and was early set aside for the 
priesthood. By nature he was kindly and high minded, 
and he would undoubtedly have made an ideal mission- 
ary. 
At eighteen, however, his health began to fail and 
he developed a cough and other symptoms of consump- 
tion. The fathers realized the danger and determined 
upon a heroic remedy. They gave Plurnadore a rifle 
and sent him off for a six weeks' hunt in the woods. 
No doubt they had misgivings as to^the result, but it was 
a choice between two evils, and that they took the risk 
of losing the services of their Indian rather than his 
life is infinitely to their credit. 
Apparently Plumadore began his journey from Caugh- 
nawaga on the south side of the St. Lawrence, and to 
. this fact rather than to any ancestral influences is due 
the selection of his hunting country in the Adirondack 
wilderness. Plumadore probably followed the Chateau- 
gay River to its chief source of the Chateaugay Lakes 
and then traveled westward around the base of the Lyon 
mountain group to the headwaters of the Salmon 
River.* 
Once around these mountains an easy level avenue 
lay open to the southward to Saranac Lake, and beyond 
the country was dotted with lakes and little ponds, and 
was at that time one of the best fur and game sections 
in North America. 
Plumadore soon learned its secrets, and doing so 
regained his health, the pioneer and happy exemplar 
for thousands -of poor sufferers who followed later to 
the Adirondack plateau. 
Plumadore never forgot the mission at Montreal or 
his early training, but the fascination of the woods was 
upon him and he could not return. He made his home 
in the Adirondacks and for many years hunted and 
trapped between the State Dam on the Salmon River, 
thirteen miles above Malone. and Saranac Lake. Much 
of the time he was alone, but he had one favored com- 
panion, Captain Peter, a Canadian half-breed from the 
boundary town of French Mills, now known as Fort 
Covington. 
Discovery of Plumadore Pond. 
It was on one of his trapping trips with Captain Peter 
that Plumadore Pond was discovered. Though quite a 
large sheet of water in the neighborhood which Pluma- 
dore and others had often hunted, its existence was not 
suspected for the reason that it lay on high gro'und off 
the natural route of travel. 
The trappers used trout as bait, and were accustomed 
to procure them from Wolf Pond, several miles away. 
In a country so plentifully besprinkled with lakes it 
seemed there should be some source of bait nearer at 
hand, and Captain Peter often complained of this carry 
from Wolf Pond. 
One day in mid-winter as the two men in company 
were traveling this line the half-breed broached the 
subject again. Plumadore replied that he believed he- 
could discover a lake nearer at hand, and with a spirit 
of prescience located it over the nearest ridge, con- 
siderably to the amazement of Captain Peter, who felt 
perfectly sure no lake could exist in the direction men- 
tioned. 
Plumadore ascended the ridge, and to secure a better 
view threw off his snowshoes and climbed a pine tree 
whose tops reached above the surrounding forest. His 
first glance showed him the pond almost at his feet, a 
circular snow covered expanse of level ice. 
Captain Peter had gone about his business, and ac- 
cordingly when Plumadore descended lie visited the 
pond alone to test its possibilities as a trout water. 
With his hunting axe he chopped a hole in the ice, 
and then dropped in his hook tipped with a bit of bright 
flannel at the end of three feet of line. A second later 
a trout weighing fully a pound was flopping on the 
ice, and Plumadore could see that the water was swaon- 
ing with hungry fish. In a very short time he Sad 
secured all the trout he could carry, and when he Re- 
turned to camp his object lesson was an eye-opener to 
Captain Peter. 
*There are two Salmpn Rivers in the. Adirond^ks, one flowing 
into the St. Lawrence and the other into Lake Champlain. Tlie 
reference is to the former. , • 
tdcT. 6, I^. 
^^r^-.-:^-^. ,--..^--^^v..-.3-r,j.-^n- 
Subsequently the men visited the pond toge.ther, and 
liking the location they established a permanent camp. 
It was while living iti this camp that Plumadore ncacjly 
lost his life as the result of an accident. 
Alone and Helpless. 
Captain Peter had gone off for supplies, and possibly a 
little of the natural history experience that may be gained 
in a town the size of Plattsburgh, and Plumadore 
was left alone to tend the trapping line. The first day 
while on his customary round he struck his foot against 
a sharp pine branch concealed in the snow with such vio- 
lence that the snag ran deeply into the flesh and broke oft". 
It was a bitterly cold day and Plumadore's feet were 
numbed, and he did not at first realize the seriousness 
of his injury. Long before he reached camp, however, 
he could scarcely walk, and when he finally pulled open 
the door of the bark roofed shanty and stepped in his 
legs gave way beneath him and he fell to the floor. 
He made a fire with what little wood happened to 
be oin the camp, and proceeded to dress his foot. With 
returning warmth and animation the foot began to swell, 
and at the same ^ime the pain became intense. Pro- 
visions were almost gone, and beyond a few sticks, of. 
fuel there was no firewood cut. To make matters worse 
a terrible wind and snow storm, set in, which could not 
fail to delay his companion's return. 
The morning of the day following his accident found 
Plumadore unable to stand. He was confronted by the 
possiblity of death from cold and starvation. He had 
counted on hunting to replenish his larder, and had 
barely enough food to last through the day. His fuel 
was gone and the wind shook the frail cabin and rove 
the snow through and across in miniature whirlwinds. 
Plumadore broke up his bed and the few wooden articles 
in the cabin to feed the fire. It was certain that if be 
could not keep up the fire he would freeze to death, 
for like most Indians he was thinly clad and provided 
with scanty bedding, and the cold was greater than he 
had ever known. Fortunately, before the last of the 
supply thus secured was consumed, the storm abated, 
and the injured man was enabled to drag himself out- 
side to procure wood. With the abateinent of the storm 
the cabin became much more comfortable, but one dan- 
ger only gave place to another, for now there was na 
food. 
What Plumadore endured in the days before Captain 
Peter's return will never be known in the entirety. He 
melted snow and made a broth with pieces of fox 
skin, and his supply of furs enabled him to stave off 
for a time the worst results of the terrible hunger; and 
each day he traveled around in broadening circles on 
hands and knees in the deep snow for his wood supply. 
W^hen Captain Peter found him he was almost gone. 
Care and good food, however, and the tonic of the 
woods soon restored him. The primitive conditions of 
the trapper's life have a marvelous curative effect for all 
ills but old age. Trappers should never grow old. 
"Wolves vs. Frying Pan. 
Plumadore once held at bay a pack of wolves with 
a frying pan. The frying pan figured as a musical in- 
strument and not a weapon. He had left the implement 
in question at a temporary shanty at Wolf Pond, and 
having use for it started over one day to get it, and as 
this was his sole errand and he was in a hurry he car- 
ried no rifle. _ • 
On the way to the pond he heard wolves howling, 
and before he reached the shanty they had grown un- 
commonly bold and he saw several at a distance. Secur- 
ing the frying pan Plumadore set out at once on his 
return to the main camp. The wolves had increased 
in numbers and seemed with that wonderful intuition 
possessed by some animals to have acquainted them- 
selves with the fact that Plumadore was unarmed. 
They pressed in on all sides and he could hear them 
moving in the bushes. Presently some of them ap- 
peared in front sitting down directly in his path. 
Plumadore had picked up a heavy pine knot with a 
spur projecting at right angles with the end, and dash- 
ing forward he threw this at the wolves, scolding them 
at the same time. The wolves retreated slowly, snarling. 
The Indian recovered his missile, retaining it to use as a 
club, and as the wolves appeared more threatening than 
ever he made up his mind that they would soon be upon 
him. Just then one of the wolves sprang by so close 
that Plumadore made an involuntary motion with his 
club. The knot struck against the fiying pan, which 
he still carried in his left hand, with a resounding bang, 
which was not without its effect on the wolves. Noting 
that they seemed disconcerted he began beating on the 
pan, with the result that the wolves fell back, and he 
was enabled to resume his way to camp. 
He continued his solo to the accompaninent of howl- 
ing wolves till the camp was reached. Dashing inside 
he secured his rifle and shot down the leader, but before 
he could reload the other wolves had disappeared. The 
clatter of the frying pan had warned them that they had 
an animal out of the common to deal with, while the 
crack..of the rifle had proved it to be their terrible and 
merciless foe, man. 
Last Days. 
Plumadore passed his declining years living on a 
farm where the road from Malone to Meacham Lake 
crosses Deer River. He deeded this farm to a young 
man whom he esteemed, in consideration of caring for 
him in his old age. He was a small man, but carried 
himself well, and at Q4 was still erect and in full posses- 
sion of his faculties. His eye was bright and his teeth 
in either jaw in good condition. He was a firm be- 
liever in Christianity and possessed a kind heart and 
a generous nature. 
When one of a party of visiting sportmen shot _a 
crane he reproved him, telling him it was cruel to kill 
one of God's creatures which was harmless and at the 
same time useless for food. Though he had taken a 
friendly interest in this man at first, he thereafter re- 
fused to have anything to do with him. 
Dr. Knapp. who knew the old man at this time, thus 
describes his habits: 
"Every evening soon after sundo.wn he would retire 
to his boat, paddle to some favorite locality (I never 
saw him use an oar) and then anchoring would spend 
