AlAHca 9, 1901.] 
FOREST AND* STREAM. 
18 S 
commenced to get tired, and I could begin to get quite 
close to hira. I kept calling for some one to fetch a 
spear (fishery laws were not very strict in those days). 
The people of the village heard my shouting and thought 
some one was drowning. They swarmed down to the 
water, and when they saw me apparentlj- paddling about 
aimlessly and yelling like a wild Indian, concluded I had 
gone mad. At length one fellow took in the situation 
and brought a spear. I got the fish, and he weighed 23 
pounds, dressed." 
B. continued, "1 don't want to draw upon your credulity 
too much, but I will relate one more experience. In this 
case I was a witness. One September morning I was out 
duck shooting at the outlet of this lake. I had left my boat 
somewhere down the channel and Avas walking along tlie 
shore to get a shot at some wood ducks. I came upon 
them, shot one and winged another, which started to 
swim across to the other side. Now, if you wing a wood 
duck and it gets to land a few minutes first — without a 
dog — ^j^ot: had better go look for another duck. I looked up 
the lake and saw a man in a boat. I called to him to 
come quickly and put me across. It turned out to be 
Pat D., a shoemaker in the village, who was out in a dug- 
out canoe trolling for 'lunge. He paddled toward me and 
was taking in his line as he neared the shore. I called 
out to him to be careful, as there were plenty of rocks. 
He had taken up his line to within a few feet, and as he 
threw the bait into the canoe, in jumped a good sized 
maskinonge. He had evidently followed the bait. Pat 
threw himself upon the fish, and I witnessed the tussle. 
Pat conquered. The fish weighed over 20 pounds — but I 
lost my duck." 
The Avriter had nearly Pat's experience that same after- 
noon. As the fierce rays of the sun cooled down toward 
evenitig, our party went out trolling for 'lunge. My spoon 
fouled in some weeds and I was drawing it in to clear it. 
When the same was about 3 feet from the boat I gave the 
line a jerk to throAV in the bait. As it came out of the 
water a good sized 'lunge jumped after it, exposing about 
two-thirds of his body out of water. 
Edison B. Fraleck. 
Caribou Shooting in Newfoundland. 
To the lovers of sport who wish to go where game can 
be obtained for a certainty, even by the most amateur, 
Newfoundland will witliout doubt be found satisfactory. 
Caribou are veiy abundant, but there are no other ani- 
mals of the deer kind. Attempts have been made to in- 
troduce moose, but up to date with no result. 
For the benefit of those who care to go there, I have 
thought it might be interesting to recount the experiences 
of myself and part}- who were there last autumn. Be- 
fore going we found it more or less difficult to get reliable 
information about the place. What we secured was from 
literature obtained from various railroads and steamboat 
companies who wish to induce travel over their respective 
lines, and places are usually overdescribed for this pur- 
pose by some one who can depict scenery or extol the 
game resources as a special inducement to tourists. What 
I have to say will be a true account of what we saw and 
experienced. 
The party consisted besides myself of Messrs. W. S. 
Kaulbock and H. I. Jenkiiis, of Maiden, Mass., and J. F. 
Davenport, of Allston, Mass. Having secured a tent and 
sleeping bags of Phelps, of Boston, we embarked on the 
steamship Halifax, of the Plant Line, for Port Hawkesbury, 
on the Strait of Canso. We encountered that night a very 
severe storm, it being about the time of the Galveston 
cyclone, and had a rough passage, all of us being seasick. 
Arrived at Halifax a couple of hours late, and were glad 
to go ashore and get something to eat where there was 
a prospect that it would stay down. At last, until we 
started again for Hawkesbury, we took in what we could 
of the city, and about i o'clock that morning started 
again, arriving at Hawkesbury the following afternoon 
at about 4 o'clock. Here we found evidences of the storm 
of the preceding night, the steamboat pier there being 
damaged and two or three schooners and a steamer dis- 
masted and ashore. The accommodations for passengers, 
that day at any rate, were the worst I ever experienced. 
We were piled into a little tug boat, bag and baggage, and 
taken across to Point Tupper, one extremity of the rail- 
road to Sydney. Arrived at the latter place about dark 
and went aboard the steamship Bruce, en route to Port- 
au-Basqtie. Newfoundland. In passing I should not for- 
get to say a word of praise for this steamship. She is 
owned bj^ Mr. Reid, of the Newfoundland Railway. 
Her accommodations are excellent. She resembles a 
steam yacht in her furnishings. We were surprised to 
find so nice a boat up there. 
Next morning found us at Port-au-Basque, where we 
took the train up country for the game region. At the 
custom house our baggage had to be examined, and at this 
point I should mention the importance of taking out 
licenses at the place when you land in the country, and 
not from some game warden up near the sporting dis- 
tricts. By buying licenses of the custom house officer 
at the port of entrj^ you thereby show that you are bona 
fide tourists, and as such your whole baggage goes 
through without inspection or paying any deposit what- 
ever. 
We had promised to buy our licenses at the Bay of 
Islands, and consequently were required to open up and 
show our baggage and put up a deposit equal to the duty 
on everything we had. The ride up country was very 
pleasant. We made the acquaintance of Mr. Wilson, on 
the parlor car, who proved a very agreeable companion 
and gave us lots of useful information about the country. 
Arrived at Bay of Islands late in the afternoon and 
stopped over night. Here we met our guides, secured our 
provisions and boats and went on in the morning to 
Sandy River, arri\-ing there about 2 P. M. Our guides 
were John Nichols and Edward Michaud, and our cook 
Samuel Farnell. We liked these men very much, and 
recommend them to others who can get them. Their 
address is River Head, Bay of Islands. Having taken 
our dinner we rowed down the river to Grand Lake and 
along the eastern shore about fifteen miles, when night 
coming on we landed and struck tent, for the weather 
was threatening. While going doAvn the lake we en- 
countered five caribou swimming across — one stag and 
four does. We secured the former and allowed the rest 
to get avvay. The stag had thirty-two points on his 
horns, which is not considered extra up there. Next day 
we went further down the lake opposite a high mountain 
peak known as Mount Harrjr. Here we encamped at the 
mouth of a small stream which comes down the side of 
the mountain at that point. Next day we ascended the 
mountain and camped a short distance from the summit. 
Having rested and taken dinner, we strolled out, sur- 
veyed the landscape round and saw nineteen caribou, some 
singly or in pairs, the most we saw together being fojir. 
Here we stayed four or five days, having bad weather all 
the time — ^fog, wind and rain. Plaving secured five stags 
and one doe with horns, we returned to Sandy River 
Crossing, then went further up the river to the second 
rapids and camped a short distance below Little Deer 
Pond. Here we shot the best stag that we secured. He 
had very massive horns with thirty-two points. Before 
leaving we got two other does with fairly good horns. 
Had we gone up to the place at first we would have had a 
mtich more easy and satisfactory trip. 
After Oct. i the caribou begin to gather in herds for 
the southern migration, but they do not all participate, for 
our guides informed us that they can be found all over 
the island any time of the year, only a considerable por- 
tion of them migrating. I had my mind made up that 
when we got them, all we should do would be to go 
out, find a herd, shoot down our pick and that would 
be the end of it. It proved to be a delusion in our 
case, possibty because we were there too early. The 
stories of monster herds of five hundred or so are absurd. 
Our guides informed us that the most they had seen to- 
gether was forty-eight, but that they had heard of some- 
what larger flocks being seen. They informed us that 
wolves were practically extinct, and that bears were very 
scarce also. I had expected from what I had read that 
there would be good ptarmigan shooting. These birds are 
white in winter and are of two kinds, corresponding to 
ovir so-called birch and spruce partridge. I did not see 
any alive, but some of our party shot one or two. Other 
men I met there said they were really plentiful in some 
parts, and so tame that they could be killed with sticks. 
I suspect this another story like the monster herds of 
caribou we hear of but do not see. I should judge by 
the looks of the streams there that trout and salmon ought 
to be plentiful at the right season. I made a few casts in 
some of the best pools and got a few rises, but the fish 
were small and did not take a fly well. However, our 
friends said that in the spring and early summer one can 
get all he has a mind to catch. 
A peculiarity of the_ island is the absence of reptiles. 
Many of the small animals we find in Canada are also 
absent, such as the woodchuck, mink, raccoon, porcupine 
and skunk. There are muskrat, beaver and otter there, 
also marten. We were told that there were two kinds of 
rabbits there in abundance. Our party saw none of either 
kind. Taking away the caribou, there is not much there 
to go hunting for, and unless you see some of these you 
may tramp all day over the barrens and see no signs of 
animal life except an occasional mohawk. I saw plenty of 
these when we pitched our tent, and they were so 
audacious that they would almost steal food from our 
tents. Perhaps what I have written is not an average 
description of the game resources of the island, but it is 
true so far as we observed. 
In regard to licenses, one may get them for three 
different prices. A forty-dollar license allows the holder 
two stags and one doe; a fiftj-dollar license three stags 
and one doe. and an eighty-dollar license five stags and 
two does, and I think any one can buy as many licenses 
as he wants and kill all the game he cares to pay for. 
Our guides and cook charged us $2.50 a day for themselves 
and boat. This is the average wages up there, but men 
can be got for less if you want that kind. Some of the 
more experienced guides get higher wages than this. I 
would recommend that sportsmen going from the United 
States take their provisions with them, as they cost more 
up there and cannot be easily obtained unless ordered 
before hand from St. Johns. If one buys his license at 
the port of entry, no duties will be charged on such 
supplies as the sportsman may require. The law is off 
there after July 15 and up to Oct. I, then after Oct. 20 
until the end of the year. 
I was surprised by the absence of public roads in the 
island. The people all live beside the water and travel 
about in boats. I did not see much land fit for cultiva- 
tion, but was informed that some parts were well suited 
for agriculture. In the interior of the island are large 
bogs and vast stretches of barrens, the latter covered with 
moss and growing plenty of berries of various kinds. 
Gulches of all dimensions run through these barrens with 
streams at the bottom and small trees and bushes lining 
the sides. These gulches afford excellent hiding places 
for the caribou when pursued. One often cannot see these 
gulches until almost upon them. On the large marshes 
I saw paths as wide as a carriage road and quite deep 
where the deer have been traveling for centuries. Smaller 
paths lead from the marshes ever the barrens in all direc- 
tions. From what I have learned the caribou of New- 
foundland are larger than those of the mainland and 
have better horns. In Nova Scotia, where I have hunted, 
they are more difiicult to approach and of a much smaller 
size. 
The railroad is a narrow gauge, and is fairly well 
equipped. The officials are very courteous to sportsmen 
and will stop the train anywhere along the route to let 
them oft' or take them on. The scenerjr along the road 
is beautiful, particularly the A^alley of the Humber. Grand 
Lake is sixty-five miles long and has an island twenty- 
five miles in length, with an elevation of from 1,500 to 2,000 
feet. The countrj^ is comparatively new to the sports- 
man, and it is to be hoped that the game laws will be 
strictly enforced to prevent the extermination of these 
animals. 
In closing I would recommend those who are fond of 
shooting to give Newfoundland a trial, feeling sure that 
they will be well repaid for their trip. A. C. Fales. 
Malben, Mass., Jan, 9. 
The Forest and Stseam is pat to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence mtended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. 
■ — ♦— — 
Experiences with Wild Animals, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It has been with pleasure 1 read your good editorials 
and the letter from Mr. Wells on the dangers from wild 
animals. They are identical with the conclusions drawn 
from the experience I have had and observed during the 
forty-five years I have put in on the frontier and in the 
mountains. During that time I have killed a number of 
bears, mountain lions (cougars I call them), wolves, and 
in fact all the dangerous animals inhabiting the Rocky 
Mountains. I have traveled alone through many different 
wild sections of the mountains and plains, camped in some 
of the most inaccessible places where tliere were plenty 
of wild beast?, as they are called, and I have found but 
two animals that tried to give me battle. One was an 
otter, the other a wounded buck. 
In 1861 I was hunting on one of the tributaries of the 
Platte, about three miles from the South Park in Colorado 
I had left camp early in the morning, and had kept along 
the stream as near as the brush would admit. The sun 
was shining very bright on the snowy range, but had not 
got high enough to strike the bottom I was hunting in. 
I saw tip to my right a very big buck. He had evidently 
seen me first, as he was standing broadside and looking 
at me. I raised my rifle and fired; at the crack of the 
rifle the deer gave a jump, then stopped, and waited until 
I was nearly ready to fire again ; then he started off, and 1 
soon followed. There was no snow, so I had to track on 
the bare ground, which sometimes is slow work. I soon 
found blood on a dry log the deer had crossed, and by 
examining close I saw there was chewed food mixed with 
the blood. Then I knew I had shot the deer too far 
back. I followed on, and soon came to where he had 
been running,' quartering down the mountain, and soon 
I came to what seemed to be the end of his tracks, and 
was standing and taking a good look in all directions, 
when all at once I heard a sniff, and on turning up the 
mountain I saw the buck coming down at me. He was 
so close I could not shoot with any certainty, but I 
shot, and then dodged behind a small pine tree. The 
deer passed as close to me as the tree would let him. He 
Avas going with such force that he was at least twenty feet 
below me when he stopped and turned half-way around. 
I lost no time in reloading my rifle, and as the deer stood 
watching me with his eyes as green as a mad dog's, I 
slowly and carefully raised my rifle and shot him dead. 
I reloaded my rifle and then as the deer did not move I 
went to where he lay. He was a fine deer, and brought 
$25. 
I was busy drawing him when I was startled nearly as 
much as I was when the deer charged. Another hunter 
had come up the mountain from the other side, and hear- 
ing my shots came over that way, and was just across on 
another ridge when the buck charged at me, and he 
told me that he had been in the mountains in California, 
and in fact all over the West, and it was the first time he 
ever saw an animal charge on a hunter. I told him I 
had wounded it a short time before and was tracking 
it, and had lost the tracks when the deer charged. He 
helped me hang the deer up, then we hunted together for 
a while, but got separated, and it was dark before we 
got to camp. 
The other wild animal that showed that he would 
rather fight than retreat was an otter. I had got between 
it and a stream, and instead of trying to get away and 
go round, it wanted that I should do the getting out of 
the way, while it was going to go straight for the stream, 
but when it raised up to give me battle I shot it with my 
revolver. 
I will now speak of a few of the times I have tried to 
get that wonderful animal, bear, to stand. In 1865 I was 
coming out over the mountains from Clearwater Station, 
in Idaho, to the Mountain House. I was on foot, and 
had my blankets on my back and was traveling along at a 
lively gait. On coming out .from a service thicket into 
some openings, I saw not more than 50 yards away a large 
black bear and four cubs cross the trail, I slipped out 
from my pack and gave chase, for I wanted to see it the 
old bear would fight or leave her cubs. I made the pace 
so strong that soon three of the cubs turned down to the 
left, and the old bear and the other cub kept quartering 
around to the right. I soon made it so hot for them that 
the cub ran up a large pine, and stopped on the first limb 
it came to. But the old mother never stopped to see 
what had become of her cubs. There was one thing 
peculiar, two of the cubs were as black as cubs can be 
and the other two were cinnamon. I sat down and 
watched the cub in the tree, and soon I heard a bell, and I 
had not long to wait till three men came along the trail, go- 
ing over the mountain. I went up and took my blankets out 
from the trail, and I told' the m.en that I had just chased 
an old bear away from her cubs. Wiiile the men did not 
say that I was a liar, they showed by their looks that they 
took the story with a big grain of salt. I told them that 
one of the cubs was up a tree a short distance down the 
hiU. and they wanted I should show it to them. I did 
so, and one proposed to go back and get a rifle out of the 
pack to kill the cub with. I told them if they wanted 
it I would kill it for them. One said "What would you 
kill it with?" I said, "My revolver." I would like to 
have a picture of that man when he looked at me. 
I raised my revolver and was about to shoot when one 
of the men said, "Hold on; let me get a club, so that if 
you only wound it I can finish him." I waited till he got 
his stick, then I shot, and out rolled the cub, but it was 
so dead that it did not need any finishing strokes. 
A number of years after, Ben Morris, Ezra Baird and I 
were commg through the mountains from Boise to Mount 
Idaho, and when we were passing through the Weiser 
Meadows I was riding ahead, and soon I noticed a large 
animal up to my left. At first I thought it was a small 
dark colored cayuse, but soon I saw it was a large bear, 
and there were four cubs running around her. I pro- 
posed to Ben that we run her away from her cubs, and 
he was willing we should try. Soon the bear saw us and 
started on the run for the timber. As it happened, we 
were on the opposite side of the creek from the bear, and 
