FOREST- AND STREAM. 
tje.felloi^s who had come, to grief and brealclast by hnd- 
ing on the decks during the night. They averaged 
somewhat less than a half poiind ' each and measuring 
-severaJ of them demonstrated that the length of the fish 
was just about equal to the vspread of its wings. On the 
table the meat was found to be very solid, white- and 
ijweet, resembling very closely that of fresh water perch. 
The Captain's reputation was now established and any- 
thing he said Was accepted without question. When 
asked if these were fair samples of Hying fish he said he 
had seen much larger ones, but not often. 
One evening soon after sunset the ship arrived off the 
port of Cartagena and dropped anchor outside to wait 
lor daylight before running into the harbor, for Spanish 
A\merican governments squander no funds in lighted 
bouys and other extravagances to encourage commerce 
or aid navigation. Being only ten degrees from the 
equator it was decidedly warm. Some said hot and others 
added even a strong adjective to that. The passenger 
list was small, so that each had a room a.lone, and all of 
the ports, windows and doors were open to give free 
<• rviuation to the little air that was in motion. Bed cloth- " 
ing was at a discount, so that even a sheet was too 
nmch, and in these conditions everj-body tinned in for ' 
an attempt at sleep. The engines being stopped, the quiet 
was unusual; the only sounds to be heard were the ex- 
haust of the dynamo engine, the tramp of the deck watch 
and the snores of some who had fallen into the happy 
state of sound slumber. 
Shortly after midnight these peaceful conditions came 
to a sudden end with a yell and a whoop from the law- 
yer's room that would have excited the envy of tlie big- 
gest Indian in Buffalo Bill's show, then another even 
greater, followed by the occupant of the room, who 
hounced into the passage, up the staii-case and into the 
social hall at a speed that easily broke all previous 
records. In less time than it takes to tell it he was here 
surrounded by a group of the frightened passengers, the'i 
officer of the deck and the watchmen, all demanding the 
cause of the alarm. There was nothing in the least de- ' 
gree amusing about the situation, for any alarm or ship- 
hoard, even when at anchor, has not the -slightest ele- 
ment of fun in it. That tableau under less serious con- 
ditions would have been a prize winner — one barefooted, 
wild eyed, dishevelled man in pajamas, in the midst of 
half a dozen others in similar costmne, all in a-^state of 
high excitement and firing questions at him at machine 
gun speed without obtaining the least satisfaction in the 
way of reply. 
At last one level head suggested that the target be 
given a chance to explain, which he did by relating that 
while soundl}^ asleep in his berth he had ben jumped 
upon and assaulted by some kind of beast or thing which 
he had grappled and thrown off, and he had then vacated 
the premises with all posssible haste. Of course he 
yelled — who wouldn't yell in such a situation? Tlien 
there were some remarks about dreams, nightmare, im- 
agination, etc., all of which he stoutly denied and called 
attention to a few spots of fresh blood on his garments 
and hands — perhaps it was a rat or one of the ship's 
cats, but the mystery deepened when careful examina- 
tion failed to show the least scratch upon him to ac- 
Cuuii-t for- ilie blood spots. An investigation was, of 
course, the next thing in order, and headed by the watch 
officer the line of march was taken up for the scene of 
action. The stateroom door was open and all was quiet 
and dark within, but the moment the light was turned 
on the mystery was cleared, for the cause of all the 
trouble and excitement was instantly revealed. There on 
the floor was a dead flying fish and it was very much 
larger than any they had seen. It had evidently come at 
full speed through the open port hole, striking the brass 
frame, which dashed its head all to pieces and deflected 
it squarely on to the manly breast of the sleeper in his 
berth on the opposite side of the room. All agreed that 
his hne of action in the subsequent proceedings was per- 
fectly justifiable and no one cared for a similar experience, 
even though he might thereby become the hero of a most 
remarkable fish story. 
The fish upon being measured was found to be just 
I7in. from tip to tip of wings and almost exactly the 
same length, though the la\\'yer declared that it was very 
much larger Avhen it struck him and must have shrunk 
enormously. "The circumstance," said he, ''is a clear 
case of retributive justice and has a verj"- evident moral 
and lesson, while it savors almost of the mysterious. 
My position now obliges me to oft'er an apology to 
several of the company. I expressed my want of faitii 
m your tales of piscatorial experience, doubted the very 
existence of flying fish, refusing to accept even so good 
an authority as our Captain, and believed nothing except 
that it was all a conspiracy against my inexperience and 
credulity. Now I promise to believe anything you choose 
to tell and express no manner of donbts, stipulating, 
however, that you exercise due care to save me from 
any further practical demonstrations. One dose of this 
doubt curing remedy is quite enough for me and I hope 
it will be a long time before I shall need another." 
K B. 
The Rangeley Lakes in December. 
BV J. PARKER WHITNEY. 
The weather this December has been unusually mild 
until lately, and not until the loth of the month were the 
lakes pretty well frozen over. The month until the loth 
has been much in contrast to that of 1890, vvhich was un- 
precedentedly cold. I came in that year with my family 
in November and remained until Jan. 8. The lakes were 
solidly frozen over before Dec. i. During the month of 
December there were but five days when the morning 
markings of the thermometer were above zero, and the 
average rate of twenty-six days was 12 degrees below 
zero. On Dec. 7 the mercury was down to 26 degrees be- 
low, and on the 29th and 30th each 24 degrees below, and 
on the 31st 23 degrees below. 
The present month has not had a day so far until the 
gth when the mercury has been lower than 4 degrees 
.above. On Thanksgiving, however, the mercury started 
in at zero, but moderated during the day. On that day 
I came from Bemis to the Upper Dam with my party in 
two rowboats, breaking the thin ice part of the way until 
within a mile and a half of the lower lake, where we 
found the ice too solid to break further, and landed on 
the shore and broke the balance of the way through about 
18 inches of soft snow with a medium crust. This was 
very difficult going when we could not make over a mile 
an hour. We found the lower lake still open, and had no 
difficulty in reaching camp by boat. Since the first heavy 
snow which we found, we have had about 15 inches more, 
which all together has settled down to a little over 2 feet 
on the level. 
On Smiday the 9th we had a blizzard. In the early 
afternoon the thermometer stood at 24 degrees above. 
I noted then that the barometer had fallen very low- 
lower than I,»have seen it for some years, excepting on 
-Sept, 13 last, when the remnant of the Texas hurricane 
reached the lake, which lashed the water into great fury. 
"On Sunday .-the thermometer from 24 degrees above sank 
rapidly in a severe gale .from the northwest, with flying 
clouds of snow, and by 6 o'clock in the evening was down 
to '10 degrees below zero, and finally reached 17 degrees 
below zero, when the gale from the northwest increased 
with great force, and continued throughout the whole 
night. On the morning of the loth the thermometer ex- 
hibited 13 degrees below zero with the gale moderated, 
but still strong. By 10 o'clock the thermometer was up to 
9 degrees below, and remained below zero all day, but 
we put in half an hour skating on the new glare ice, which 
was quite sufficient for us. Tell me not of orange groves 
and rosy bowers. They have no compare for hearty en- 
joyment with the lakes in winter, if one be well clothed, 
well housed and with good fare. The woods and waters 
are always fascinating,- be it winter or summer, the former 
equal to the latter — the wood,s in their dai^k green or with 
their tioatings of white, the water delightful with its calm 
and changing surface, or clasped with mantles of ice or 
snow. This is the sanitarium for many invalids, where 
enervating warm climates are pernicious. Here will be 
found the enemy of insomnia. Here the stimulator of 
appetite and the true pepsin of digestion. Here the con- 
qiteror of ennui and the relaxation of care. 
Snowshoeing has been a little heavy, but since we 
have broken out between twenty and thirty miles of trails 
around through the forest we do not find it difficult to 
make ffom ten to twelve miles on a trip, and so far have 
bagged three deer. 
A large hunting party from Ohio passed through 
Springfield, Mass., the other day on their way home, after 
;l successful four weeks' campaign in the Maine woods. 
They traveled in two special cars, and in one of them 
were piled up forty-eight deer and a monster moose, with 
antler.s measuring 55 inches from tip to tip. 
The October Woodcraft. 
The October number of the Game Laws in Brief and Woodcraft 
Magazine contains the game and fish laws of the United States 
and Canada. The Woodcraft part has this capital list of con- 
tents: 
GRAN'TIIER HILL'S PA'TRIDGE. By Rowland K. Robinson, 
IN Tim FOREST. 
I rili OLD CANOE. 
I HE RESCUE OF MR. HUNDLEY. 
KELLUP'S ANNUAL. By Jefferson Scribb. 
DEACON THROPE'S PIGEONS. 
ANY LETTERS FOR ME? By H. P. Ufford. 
lETTOSSEE ISLAND. By Olive F. Gunby. 
FLORIDA INDIAN DEER HUNTERS. 
AT CLOSE QUARTERS: The Hon. S., the Plover and the Bull; 
A Nova ^^cotia Bear; The Panther's Scream; A Time with a 
Dorida Alligator: The Owl's Swoop; The Dog Climbed. 
THE DOG AND THE TURKEY. By John James Audubon. 
<:RNAT0R VEST'S SUNDAY PIGEON SllOOT. 
AL'STRALLAN ROUGH-RIDERS. By R. Boldrewood. 
The deer have no particular difficulty in getting through 
the present snow, although the imdersized will wallow 
some and show the furrows of their bellies and sides 
from their passage. While they do not range so ex- 
tensively as before the snow, they have no difficulty in 
getting about and in securing all the food they require. 
They are not, however, found much in the open, black 
growth of timber now as they will be later, but must be 
sought for in the cedar swamps, where the cedar is 
plentiful and constitutes an excellent food. If one should 
have any dotibt about their ability to get through the snow 
he would be amply satisfied when jumping a deer to see 
him go off at a rate which seems little diminished from 
that which shows his departure over the ground when 
there is no snow. The full-grown buck will go off and 
clear snow with 10 feet at every leap, and will go out of 
sight altogether too quickly where the growth is at all 
thick for the hunter to get in a shot. The running 
season being still on, the bucks run about considerably 
and will go for miles with apparently but slight effort. In 
the cedar swamps they are seasonably gregarious, and the 
solitary does and younger deer are apt to be found 
together and yarding in groups of from two or three to 
half a dozen. I encountered a few days ago a locality 
several miles from camp in a very dense cedar swamp 
where evidently at least a half-dozen had been congre- 
gating. I followed the trail of a deer through the snow, 
unbroken excepting by its passage, when I came upon the 
home camp, so to speak, of perhaps half a dozen deer, for 
I counted six beds where they had lain down the night be- 
fore, and where in a space of 20 or 30 feet square the 
snow was so trampled down as to make the footing hard 
aitd .secure. I did not reach this place until a little late 
in the forenoon, say 10 o'clock, and all the deer had 
departed in the early morning by different trails, some 
further into the swamp, and their croppings of the over- 
hanging cedar Imibs were quite apparent, and where some 
of the foliage was more plentiful the tracks were nu- 
merous. It was bright and stniny, altogether too still for 
successful stalking, for the snowshoes, however care- 
fully used, will make a noise. Ordinarily upon such 
occasions the snowshoes are taken off, but as the snow 
was over 2 feet deep the walking was difficult without 
them. As there was a slight breeze from the eastward, I 
took that direction, where two or three deer had pro- 
ceeded, but the small growth was difficult to get through, 
obscuring the sight ahead and loading me with the loose 
snow which had not yet been blown off the trees. It was 
my only opportunity, however, and although I proceeded 
with great caution at least for a half-mile, I ob- 
served by the bounding leaps of the three deer I was fol- 
lowing that they had heard my approach and were off. 
It was useless to follow, so I struck out to the left and 
made a circle of nearly a mile in advance of the direction 
in which the deer were heading, hoping to get around of 
-acl'os.s them if they had stopped, but when I crossed their 
trail, still oft the bound, nearly three-quarters of a iniie 
from where I had started them, and where they had 
divided, but had all gone in the same general direction, 
their bounds indicated that they were making from 
8 to 12 feet on the jump. So I left their home camp 
for another day, and will go later to the same place, hop- 
ing that I may find the conditions more favorable. 
Deer hunting in the woods of Maine, legitimate stalk- 
ing without dogs or shining, which are forbidden, is much 
more difficult than the average reader would suppose. 
Deer are not near so plentiful as one would suppose they 
should be where the feed is apparently so good, and where 
they are hunted so little as they are in this immediate 
locality. With quite a number of years' experience, my 
estimate is that there is not much more, if any, than one 
deer to the square mile of forest here. We see them 
plentifully in the summer around the small ponds, and 
where they daily exhibit themselves, perhaps five or six 
at one time in sight when protected by the law, when, an- 
noyed by insects and fond of the water and aquatic plants 
as they are, they seek the shores. Not being disturbed, 
they seem quite tame, and it is not unusual to see a doe 
feeding among the lilypads with her little spotted fawn 
paddling along the shore. But these deer have come from 
some distance to find the water, and take to it readily, but 
when you hunt for them in the forest in the open season 
you find them very scarce, and if you depend wholly upon 
the killing of deer you will soon get discouraged. I 
have killed quite a number of deer in this locality, and I 
may say that I have traveled more than 100 tniles in the 
woods for every deer I have taken. In the last months 
of September and October I presume I traveled more than 
200 miles, getting but one shot at a deer, although I 
jumped — that is, startled away from about me — from eight- 
een to twenty, some of which I saw and was unable vo 
get a shot at, but the pleasure and satisfaction which I re- 
ceived in those rambles is beyond purchase, I have no 
enjoyment or healthful recreation that I can think of that 
I enjoy so much as stalking deer. Still, there are many 
aggravating features connected with deer hunting, particu- 
larly to see a deer bound off which has been in plain 
sight while you have been approaching without seeing 
it, for it will sometimes stand so still and motionless as to 
defy detection, perhaps only partly visible in the brush, 
and then bound off with such rapidity and dash around 
a clump of bushes or trees in such a manner that you 
are unable to get in a shot. You are hunting for your 
chances. Sometimes it is veiy easy to get them, but 
ordinarily they are difficult to kill. I only had during 
September and October, with all my traveling — my de- 
lightful traveling of unpurchasable pleasure and satis- 
faction with the object in view, but with the auxiliaries 
presenting themselves constantly — only one fair oppor- 
tunity to shoot a deer, and that recollection is by no 
means satisfactory, for it was so fair and open that I 
could not have wished it better if I would. The_ conditions 
were very favorable, the ground and leaves moist, a dark- 
ish day, a gentle breeze and myself approaching from the 
leeward. I was proceeding at the time down an old log- 
ging road which I had been on several times and where 
I had observed the tracks and indications of a very large 
deer. Proceeding along cautiously, as was my wont, 
looking at every spot where I was putting my feet, to 
avoid the cracking of a twig 'of decayed limb, and still 
looking ahead, I observed, perfectly motionless, not ten 
rods ahead of me as I turned an angle of this old road, one 
of the largest bucks I think I have ever seen, evidently 
the one whose tracks I had observed. He was standing 
apparently clear entirely from the timber by the side of 
the road, broadside toward me, perfectly motionless, with 
his head and large antlers slightly turned toward me and 
gazing upon me with apparently the same interest that I 
felt in seeing him. Mentalty I thought he was mine surely, 
with the rifle in my hand which had brought down several 
deer before at single shots, and with nothing distracting 
my view, nor troubled bj' buck fever, which I have never 
experienced, but as coolly and deliberately as I would fire 
at a target ten rods off, which was the distance of this 
buck, I brought careftilly my rifle sights to a level, and 
without any haste, taking the most deliberate aim which 
was afforded by the opportunity, I fired. I fired at his 
body slightly back of the shoulder blades. It was a rough 
surprise to the buck. He turned, however, quickly taking 
his back track, and throwing up his signal flag of de- 
parture, which indicated that he was not hit, or at least 
had not received any wound of importance, and went off 
with bounds too rapid for me. owing to the then ob- 
structing foliage, to get in another shot. Astounded at 
my failure, I started after him, after having rapidly 
thrown another cartridge into the barrel of my rifle, I 
could follow him, owing to the condition of the leaves, 
without difficulty, but I found no trace of blood, and saw 
that he indicated no intimation of having been wounded. 
I returned to the spot where he stood when I shot, and 
there I found to my mortification and great annoyance a 
leafless maple sapling of about an inch and a half in diam- 
eter, which I had not observed when I fired, and at the 
level corresponding with the place which I shot at, the 
sapling was shattered and nearly cut off by my rifle ball 
where its soft nose had exploded and become diverted 
from its passage in some direction away from the deer. 
This was the result of all my stalking, but it could not 
take away the satisfaction — the daily satisfaction — I had 
experienced. One must have an object for all exertions. 
That is sustaining, and lends vigor and .enjoyment to pur- 
suits which when aimless are of slight value. 
The last two deer I shot I came upon unnoticed. They 
were standing a moderate distance off. It seemed a pity 
to shoot at them, so beautiful and innocent as they ap- 
peared. But I did. One was half broadside toward me, 
which I shot through the heart, when he dropped in bis 
tracks, and perhaps was not conscious of his wound. 
The other was stern fronting to me, and I had to whistle 
for him to turn, and as he did, my bullet broke liis neck. 
Last year, one day when I had hunted over a ten-mile 
tramp most carefully carrying my rifle in front, ready 
for immediate action, without seeing or hearing a deer, I 
approached within a quarter of a mile of camp, when I 
relaxed my careful walk and search, and threw my rifle 
carelessly over my shoulder. The forest was thickly 
