S84 
FOREST AMD STREAM. 
itiov. L'/, iijbU. 
dwelling with them, then gather plenty of fire wood. If 
you get a chance, knock over a rabbit, squirrel or any 
stray animal you may see, for you may get hungry before 
you get out of your scrape. Vv^hen night comes and you 
are satisfied they must be anxious about you at camp, start 
the fire in front of your mansion, sit under shelter on 
your bed of boughs, poke the .muzzle of your rifle out 
every fifteen or twenty minutes and let her go in the air. 
I have never had occasion to follow this advice, but^that 
it is sound I am sure, for it was given me by Maine 
guides. i\f 1 I 
Since writing tke above the thought has come: Would 
it not be well if every permanent camp was supplied with 
a large box kite or a huge sphere (similar to those used 
by the press boat in the last international yacht races), to- 
be flown several hundred feet in the air every day? At 
night colored lights could be attached and suspended m 
the air, far above the earth, and higher than many hilL-. 
Or, in case of a person being lost at night, rockets could 
be set ofl; and the wanderer given a chance to locate camp 
in this way. It would seem that the kite or sphere by day 
and the colored lights at night ought to prove as good a 
guide to the lost hunter as the lightliouse is to the 
mariner, especially as the hunter seldom strays many 
miles from camp. 
The rain had ceased and a high wind had set in from 
the southwest. Somehow I felt uneasy and wasn't satis- 
fied to stay in camp. It was impossible to start Wilbert or 
Lide, so I finally shouldered my rifle and started off with- 
out them in the direction of the Burnt Land, Instead of 
going there, however, I kept on up the mountain. Up, up 
I climbed until the lake was spread out far below, and as 
the fog had cleared I could look a long way over the sur- 
rounding country. The sky was still overcast with swiftly 
flying clouds, and the gray day was entirely devoid of 
those beautiful colorings which attend bright sunshine. 
Katahdin was visible to half his height, his summit being 
hidden in the clouds. Somber and forbidding was his 
aspect, as if he were a veritable monumental personifica- 
tion of death. 
Presently I reached a place near the extreme top of 
the mountain, and the wind swept in a gale around me. 
The trees bent and swayed, and a forest monarch over lOO 
feet in height went like a pipe stem into three parts and 
thundered to the ground, and not over 50 yards from 
me. I was on the point of returning when a large buck 
appeared to view, not over 30 yards away. He was 
motionless and had not seen me. Now was my chance, 
and I took it. There was no sign of buck ague, and be- 
fore he could know it he was mine. It was a job to get 
him down the mountain. The way was steep, however, 
and free from underbrush, so I managed it after awhile 
and left him hanging by the side of the Nesowadnehunk 
road. 
Camp was crowded that night. Late in the afternoon 
sixteen or eighteen lumbermen walked in. and two sports- 
men, Mr. M. C. Chase and his son, of Sebes Station. Me., 
came in on a tote sleigh from the north. They had fotir 
deer — two does and two fawns. They had shot their 
game in the neighborhood of Pockwockaraus Lake, and 
reported hundreds of deer. 
It was the last night in camp, and the quietest of the 
trip. The lumbermen were just going into the woods, and 
all were strangers to us, and strangers to one another. 
They were the most weary, sleepy, homesick appearing 
lot of men I ever cast eyes upon. Some lay upon the 
board floor with their bundles for pillows and drowsed, 
others wrote letters and none talked. "It's their first day 
together," said Jewett. "After they reach camp they'll 
soon become acquainted, and '11 have some good times 
together, as well as hard ones." 
There were no merry shouts, no stories, no boisterous 
laughter, and no music round the old wood burner that 
night. The floor of the big room was carpeted with 
heavy, coarse blankets, on which tired and sleeping men 
lay. 
The next morning saw a hustling time in camp. The 
lumbermen were given their breakfast before daylight, and 
the gray of dawn saw them on their journey to the north. 
The horses were hitched to tote conveyances, our deer 
were loaded, we shook Fred and Jewett heartily by the 
hand, and took the last view of camp from a bend in the 
road and were soon out of the shadow of Katahdin. 
William H. Avis, 
New Haven, Conn, 
Rivcf Views. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The dwellers in New York city sometimes see curious 
sights. For example, on election day, Nov. 6, while walk- 
ing with a companion on the upper part of Manhattan 
Island and looking out over the Hudson River, I saw 
coming down the river high in air a dark line, which 
carried my thoughts far away from this big town. It 
was a flock of ducks far above the water, and reminded 
me of the flocks of trading canvasbacks and redheads 
that may often be seen during the winter oh our South- 
ern bays and broad waters. They were a long way off, 
but not so far but that I could count twenty-three birds, 
which I recognized as broadbills, bluebills, or blackhead's, 
according to the locality where they are found. The 
birds kept on down the river, and growing more and more 
dim to the sight, finally disappeared from view. 
From the same point, looking a little west of north, I 
could see rising and falling on the rippling waters a 
hundred or two birds, some white and some dark gray or 
brown, which were, of course, sea gulls, most of them no 
doubt the common herring gull of the coast. They are 
familiar residents all through the autumn, winter and 
spring on the Hudson, notwithstanding the recent an- 
nouncement by an astonished reporter of one of the New 
York papers of the presence during a hard blow of gulls 
in the bay, which he declared had been blown into the 
harbor from far to seaward, although the storm of which 
he wrote was a heavy westerly gale. 
, Although the days when men used to go woodcock 
shooting around the Collect Pond, snipe shooting on 
Lispenard Meadows, quail shooting on the Dykeman 
farm and wild pigeon shooting on Manhattanville Hill are 
long passed, it is still possible now and then for the sports- 
men to see game within the city limits. M. M. 
New York\ Nov. 10. 
Florida Ratiieis. 
Speaking of vericjmmi.s- snakes, there have been more 
diamond-back rattlers killed in this immediate vicinity 
during the past moiiih than In several previous years 
combmecl, due probably to the lact of the water in the 
Kverglades being unusually higii, causing the snakes to 
take to the narrow strip ot hign pine lana along the bay. 
The score thfs fall, so far as Iviiown, is eleven snakes, 
nearly all large ones. Yesterday a farmer driving through 
the woods had a rattler strike at one of his mule's hind 
legs, but it missed and hit the felloe of the front wheel, 
"spat," then fell under the wdieel and was run over, but 
the heavy load of lumber passing over him failed to take 
much of the fight out of the rascal. 
An examination of the fangs showed them badly shat- 
tered by the blow he gave the wagon felloe. 
The writer recently had his nervous system nearly 
ruined by a huge specimen which the mowing machine 
stirred up in the tall prairie grass. Not having anything 
.suitable with which to dispatch such a rattler, we kept him 
on the defensive, while one of the boys ran to a house 
near by for a gun. 
This rattler w^as tlie largest we have ever seen, being 
fully 6 feet long, as large around as a man's arm and 
with eleven rattes. Though a mighty disagreeable job, we 
succeeded in saving that skin, and mean to have it tanned 
some day. 
Reckoning that a rattler does not grow a • rattle tiU 
three years old, and one a year after that, makes this one 
fourteen years old. 
It is rare that one hears of any one being bitten down 
here, but the Florida rattler's bite is considered to be 
almost sure death, unless very prompt measures 'are 
taken, such as amputation, or immediately cutting out a 
large chunk of flesh. When dogs are bitten, they usually 
die in a few minutes. 
Some of the more cautious hunters ifl tramping through 
the saw palmettoes, which everywhere cover the rocky 
ground, carry a small hypodermic syringe and a strong 
solution of permanganate of potash, to inject into the 
holes made by the fangs, but the old residents go every- 
where with nothing more than a pocket knife, relying on 
the warning rattle to protect them from danger. 
C.^MERAMBT.ER. 
BiscAVNK Bay, Fla. 
• Little 'Sissy succtwnbed to the great law of nature — her 
gourmand appetite leading lu an overfeed of beef, w'hich 
caused a siclcness thai lusted a week. During tliis time 
she hid herself under ttle house and refused to take any 
notice of any one. in her Aveakened state the cool 
weather affected her, and we wakened one morning to 
find our pet dead. Minnie Moore- Willson. 
K.IS.SIMM11K, Fla. 
Sissy: A Florida Pet. 
One of the most unique pets that it has been my good 
fortune to study and train was a water turkey or snake 
bird. In domestication the bird is very rare, not because 
of its scarcity in Florida, but because of the difficulty in 
rearing it. Like the domestic turkey, until the pin 
feather age is passed the water turkey is delicate and 
tender. A domestic fowl could not be tamer nor show 
more affection than little Sissy, th? water turkey. It was 
during a severe illness that a nest of these birds made 
an impression never to be forgotten. Perched on a 
stick, the three young birdlings were carried into the 
room to be viewed from their improvised perch. As 
I beckoned for them to be brought closer, one of the 
birds jumped from the stick and waddled up toward my 
head. I placed my hand on its long, slim neck and it 
responded with a chirping, quavering voice, swaying its 
head backward and forward, its soft trilling voice sound- 
'ing as sweet and as musical as the notes from an yEolian 
harp. Its body Avas covered with soft downy white. The 
nurse took the bird's recognition as a good omen, and it 
was carried with the others to the perch outside. 
The most careful attention could not save the two, but 
the one survived, and by the time the mistress was able 
to be out the birdling had changed from a soft downy 
thing to a full-fledged bird, with mottled black and gray 
shining feathers, and a fan-shaped, flute-edged tail. With 
its yellow webbed feet and duck-like legs, it Avould waddle 
to strangers as well as friends, its long snake-Hke neck 
extended and often with wings outstretched to aid the 
progress. Hunger seemed to be a chronic state with 
the bird, and while the long throat (which, by the way, 
could be distended to take a good-sized fish) might be 
full of unswallowed food. Sissy would show the same 
eagerness for the next bit, pleading, coaxing, waddling 
around, swaying her head and picking at the dress skirt 
with her long, needle-like bill, with its saw edges, in such 
a positive manner that the cloth would have to be cut 
to extricate the beak. She could catch food thrown to 
her with a degree of preciseness equal to a professional 
ball catcher; and having caught it, would toss it up in the 
air a foot or two and catch it as it descended in the position 
she wished to swallow. In catching fish or minnows she 
did the same, first darting for the prey in the pool, 
piercing the fish, then tossing in the air and swallowing 
head first. The bird would follow us "all about the lawn 
her little duck legs being assisted by the outspreading 
wings. 
She loved the water, bathing frequently, diving under 
until no sign of her could be seen, when suddenly at the 
other side the long, slim neck would appear, to go out 
of sight as soon, and appear at some other place. Then 
out of the water she would come, looking like a 
bedrabbled chicken. She would then arrange her olumagc 
and would think she was "dressed" for the day, but 
into the water she would go again ; then when plumed to 
her' native taste she would seek the perch and w'th her 
head under her wing, sleep the sleep of the tired surf 
bather. Whatever the water turkey may be in its native 
haunt.s, domesticated, it is pugnacious and jealous, being 
ready to attack the dog, cat or the large whooping 
cranes. 
The water turkey ranges throughout Florida and 
builds its nest on some limlj overhanging the Avater. The 
eggs are usuallj^ three in number and white with a bluish 
tinge. As they sit on the bushes along a water course and 
are alarmed on the approach of any object, they dart un- 
der the water, where they can remam a considerable 
length of time. Looking away beyond, one may see a 
snake-like object floating lazily on the surface of the 
water. ! ilff 
The Belgian Hare Mania. 
from the Lotidan Iheld, Nov. iJ. 
La RoCHEroucAULD, 111 one of his maxiras/-enUiieiates 
the theory ttiat there is soraettiing in the misfortunes of 
our Dest iriends that is not aiiogether displeasmg to u.->. 
'iliis IS certainly true in minor matters, and we enjoy a 
laugh at the loliies ot our acquaintances wittiout any 
hesitation or contrition, vve ourseives attord our Amer- 
ican cousins abundant opportunities of laughing at our 
prejudices and practices, and accept with ttie same good 
numor the opportunities they otter for retaliation. 
It is singular that a delusion wnich has been extinct on 
this side 01 the Atlantic for many years should have been 
resuscitated and taken firm root in the United States, 
where it is noAv flourishing, and has a paper specially de- 
voted to its interests. U his delusion is not altogether un- 
prohiable to the Lnglish, for several Americans are over 
Here at the present time, endeavoring to purctiase at the 
most absurd prices what they are pieaseo to regard as a 
new and usetul hybrid called the lielgian hare. Several 
letters on the subject have been received, and, suppressing 
the name of the writer, who dates from Lowell, Mass., 
U. S. A., I may quote the following : 
"Can you kmdiy give any mforinatioa where I can pur- 
chase in England lor importation to this country any 
full-blooded rtngfish or Belgian hares? If you know of 
any estates where there arc any for sale would you kindly 
notify the owners of the fact that I am open to purchase 
in large quantities if they will only correspond Avith me. 
naming breed and price, as I am forming a large com- 
pany tor furnishing the American provision market?" 
In England it is well known that Avhat are called Belgian 
hares are not hares, that they bear no relation whatever to 
the Avild hare, Lepus timidus, but are simply large hare- 
colored varieties of the domestic or tame rabbit, Lepus 
cuniciUus. The fraud — for really it may be justly so 
called — of representing these animals as hybrids between 
the hare and the rabbit originated in France some quarter 
of a century or more ago. The animals represented as 
hybrids, leporidcs or hare-habbits, were sold at very high 
prices, whicii no doubt they are commanding in America 
at the present moment, and I am ashamed to say that they 
Avere largely sold by the Acclimatization Society in Paris. 
' They were believed in by many of our agriculturists. The 
late Mr. Pusey had a large stock, which I visited, arid 
found a number of hares and rabbits in loose boxes, 
'i hey were open to the control of the stable boys, so that 
the experiments Avere perfectly worthless from a scientific 
or accurate point of view. Mr. Pusey believed m the 
existence of the hybrid, and thought that he had obtained 
it dc novo. Btit the experiments that were conducted 
strictly by such observers as the late Mr. Bartlett at the 
Zoological Gardens 'and others showed that no such- 
hybrids could be obtained, and when Ave consider the fact 
that the rabbit is born perfectly naked, helpless and blind, 
in the bottom of a deep burroAv, and that the hare is born 
in the open, covered with fur and able to run immediately. 
Ave shall at once see that a hybrid between two such 
differently constituted animals is very unlikely to occitr, , 
Moreover, the flesh of the hare, as is well known, is dark 
colored and highly flavored, while that of the rabbit is 
white and comparatively tasteless. All these facts ten.d.tb 
show the improbability of the existence of such an animal 
as a hare-rabbit, and all experiments proA^e the impos- 
sibility of obtaining it. The so-called Belgian hare is a 
large "variety of the domesticated rabbit. It is well known 
now to all rabbit breeders, and is not regarded by them as' 
having any connection whatever with the hare. Males 
of this breed have been in many cases turned out into our 
rabbit warrens with the intent to increase the size of the 
Aviid rabbit, and to introduce fresh blood into the warrens. 
I am not singular in my view of this animal, as may be 
seen by the folloAving extract from the last edition of the 
Encyclopasdia Britannica : 
The Belgian hare is a large variety of a hardy and prolific 
character, which closely resembles the common hare in color, and 
is not tmlike it in form. Some few years since many of these 
animals were sold as leporides or hybrids, produced by the union 
of the hare and the rabbit; but the most careful experimenters have 
failed to obtain any such hyltrid, and the naked, immalure con- 
dition in which young rabbits are born, as compared with the 
clothed and highlv developed young bares, renders it exceedingly 
unlikely that hybrids could be produced. Nor does the flesh of 
the Belgian rabbit resemble that of the hare in color or flavor. 
A closely allied variety, though of even larger size, is known by 
the absurd name of Patagonian rabbit; it has no relation to the 
country after which it is called. 
This was published in 1886. W e may suppose that this 
craze for the Belg'an hare in America is really only a 
form of the ridiculous mania respecting fancy a..ira4l3 
which sometimes takes possession of .people. If any one 
advertises an animal as a new breed it immediately be- 
comes in great demand by fanciers. Let us take, for ex- 
ample, the case of poultry, in which new varieties are 
eulogized, and are bought by fanciers without any re- 
gard to price. The variety remains in favor a few years 
and then drops from its place of pride. There are faiciers " 
who recollect the absurb etilogism of the Cochin now no 
longer in esteem. Spanish fowls were at one time to be 
seen on eA?ery gentleman'.s estate. They, too are gone. 
Useful fowls still hold their own. and the old English 
Dorking IS still esteemed by these who know the value 
of a good table fowl. At the present time the la t ir 'V 
folly in fowls is the introduction as a pure breed of t'.ie 
Faverolle, a French farmyard mongrel fowl, about th:; 
qualifications of Avhich the English fanciers are squab- 
bling. 
The Belgian hare in England fs now tiiiiversally recog- 
nized as a mere A^ariety of the ordinary species, r.nd it is 
difficult to avoid smiling at the demands of Amor'can 
correspondents for "full blooded" English or Belgian- 
hares. Doubtless there Avill be a good deal of money made 
by the importation of large hare-colored rabbits into 
America, but the advantage will be with the venders ajid 
dealers, and not with the purchasers. 
W. B. TF.OETMI';rE<?, 
