I90I.] 
22S 
sounded through the laurel, where the wildcat made his 
home, telling us that the giaiat had sought the winding 
paths and darkness where it would be easier to elude the 
agile dogs, but they were trained, and as pups had chased 
the wily swamp rabbit, where now they followed fast 
the monster cat. 
The run was to be a long one, and we waited near the 
border of the laurel for the miraveling of the many tor- 
tuous stretches of the trail through the windings of 
the stream and thorn-bordered paths. After a time the 
whining notes of perplexity broke again into the blood- 
thrilling battle cry of the hound, in close pursuit of the 
game. While we listened to this renewing of the chase 
there was a rustling in the laurel, and almost instantly 
the great grim whiskered head of our forest monarch 
peered from the bank of green where the moonlight fell, 
not fifty yards away. The four-foot barrel of the long 
rifle swept up to the range as if by instinct; the very 
bullet in its grooved bed seemed trembling with eager- 
ness, as with muscles tense as steel I "darkened" on the 
gray brow between the e^'cs of fire. Just as I touclied 
the trigger, the huge fiirrcd thing stepped out, with head 
held high, into the brightness. The flash and sharp report 
came too late. I had missed, and I was glad, for no man 
could rejoice at the death of such a thing of forest glory 
In everj' line of his lithe body could be seen a wilder- 
ness of strength and a world of pride. In truth he was the 
king of the valley. The curved rifle breech struck the 
log by my side, and with nose in air and long swinging 
trot the cat was gone on his old trail, over the hills to 
the south. Then came the hounds with frantic leap and 
cry, following the quarr}', with their brute hearts aflame. 
A few moments gone and their voices mellowed by the 
distance took on that strange, wild note known as the 
"tree bay," telling us that the yellow-eyed king had 
sought refuge amid the great limestone caves on the 
river, miles away. Thus we listened, while the oxhorn's 
braying broke the intervals of silence, echoing sadly 
through the lonely gorges and the tall pine trees. 
The hunt was over; yet, though it happened years 
ago, my blood speeds faster from the memory of it. 
' B. M. S. 
Frank Forester. 
Ediior Forest and Stream : 
The first copy of his "Field Sports" which I ever owned 
was given to me thirty-one years ago. It was the 1868 
edition. This has not, like many works on sport, been 
laid aside, because I thought it old fashioned and not up 
to date, for I own no sporting work in which I take 
more solid comfort and satisfaction in reading over and 
over again than these writings of Henry Wm. Herbert. 
This dpes not only apply to the "Field Sports." but to his 
"Sporting Scenes and Characters," "American Game in 
Its Seasons." "Fish and Fishing" and "Fugitive Sport'ng 
Sketchings," so ably edited by Fred E. Pond (Will Wild"- 
■wood). I have recently been investigating as to the like- 
nesses which we know of Forester and find tliat very few 
exist. There may be others which, some of your readers 
know of, and if so I hope they will communicate through 
your columns. 
I have seen no works of Forester's which contain any 
likeness except in the "Field Sports," but there was none 
in the first edition of 1848. The 1858 edition contains the 
profile wood cut, which also appears in later editions. 
There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the accu- 
racy of this likeness. Fred. E. Pond in his "Fugitive Sport- 
ing Sketches of Frank Forester," published in 1879, says: 
"The portrait of H. W. Herbert in the first column of his 
'Field Sports of the United States and British Provinces' 
is little better than a caricature. It has been pronounced by 
his acquaintances a base libel upon his manly features, and 
the gifted 'Acorn' asserts: 'It is no more like Herbert 
than is_a horse to horse chestnut.' The most accurate 
likeness of 'our Frank' is the photograph by Zimmerman 
Bros., St. Paul, Minn — reproduced from a portrait by 
Meade, the- last for which Mr. Herbert ever sat. This is 
a faithful and finely executed likeness of Frank Forester, 
a 'counterfeit presentment' which it is a delight to gaze 
upon." 
The likeness which Mr. Pond styles as a caricature ap- 
peared in an illustrated article in the "International Mag- 
azine," June I, 1851. Vol. 3, No. 3. and referring to the 
cut, says: "We doubt whether the wood engravers of 
this country have ever produced a finer portrait than the 
above of the author of 'The Brothers,' 'Cromwell,' etc. It 
is from one of the most successful daguerreotypes of 
Brady." I have recently secured this same likeness, an 
etching on velkmi, signed by S, Hollyer. For the Zim- 
merman photograph from the Meade portrait I am in- 
debted to Mr. Charles Hallock, who generously presented 
tne with his only copy, and it was from this one that the 
likeness appeared in his famous article on "Pioneer Amer- 
ican Sportsman" in "Outing" for January, 1901. This ar- 
ticle has been most enthusiastically received and made all 
the more interesting and valuable by the twenty-one il- 
lustrations of the old-time lovers of the rod and gun, 
most of whom have now passed on. Mr. Henrj' Thorpe 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., to whom I am indebted for informa- 
tion regarding Forester's likeness, writes me. that there 
are two portraits taken from oil paintings and that one of 
the originals is in his possession. It was painted by an 
artist named Roberts, who lived in Newark, N. J., and 
was probably done during Forester's lifetime. It repre- 
sents Herbert seated in his library, in shooting costume, 
with shooting implements on the walls. Size of canvas 
15 by 18 inches. A woodcut of this same portrait was 
given in the New York Herald, Nov. 26, 1893, in con- 
nection with an illustrated article on Herbert. 
John H. Blackford gives his recollection of Herbert in 
"Game Land." November, 1893, in these words: "His 
appearance was remarkable. He stooped slightly; was 
prematurely aged ; clothed in fustian or corduroy hunting 
coat and breeches, with leather leggings buttoned up above 
his knees; a heavy dark-gray shawl about his waist, 
crossed behind and passing over his shoulders and under 
the part in front, similar to the old Scotch fashion; an 
odd cap (probably Scotch) on his head; eyes downcast, 
oblivious to passers-by ; followed closely by a couple of 
hounds. That is the picture of him in my mind as I saw 
him often, over forty years ago." 
Some months ago a very interesting letter of Forester's, 
of early date, appeared in your paper, and under date of 
Jan. 19, 1901, the Sportsmen's Review published another 
in possession of Mr. Henry Thorpe, written in 1845 from 
"The Cedars." If any of your readers are fortunate in 
possessmg autograph letters of the "mentor and coach of 
the Rising Sportsmen of America," I hope they will pub- 
lish them. Any sportsman would read such literature 
with a keen relish. I recently picked up in New York a 
short autograph letter which reads as follows: 
My Dear Colonel: 
^ 1 ana_ .sick— neuralgia in the head. Get along with "The 
Sachem" thi.s week. I will bring you two columns on .Saturday 
for next week, and we wiJI then start fair. Ever yours, 
„ - Henry Wm. Herbert. 
The Cedars, Jan. 27, 1853. 
Referring to the "Field Sports," edition of 1868, page 
28 of the Memoirs, you will see : "In 1850 he gave much 
time to a paper called The Sunday Era," and in i8.=;i to 
another called The Sachem, both published in New 
York." I have recently received from the family of the 
late Jacob Pentz the following note of Forester's, 
addressed to Col. Isaac Andrus, Jr., but not dated : 
Aiy Dear Colonel: 
i cannot say how much I am distressed about this cursed mat- 
ter. I was confident of getting it yesterday morning, but in vain. 
I can only add that I have an article finished to send to the 
Democratic Review on Monday morning, which always jjays me 
re.ndy money, and that item I can certainly repav you. 
JJver yours, Henry 'Wm. Herbert. 
Some twenty editions of the "Field Sports" have been 
published, but the early issues are now scarce. I secured 
from the family of the late Jacob Pentz his copy, which 
was the first edition presented to him by his father, Dec. 
25. 1848. Also the "Fish and Fishing" first edition with 
the supplement bound separately, presented to him by his 
brother, Dec. 25, 1850. 
''.\merican Game in Its Seasons" published in 1853, is 
Avritten in his usual attractive style, nineteen chapters on 
different game, most of which originally appeared in 
"Grahaiii's Magazine." Each article is prefaced by an 
illustration, and what gives it peculiar interest is the fact 
that all of these, with the exception of two, were designed 
and drawn on wood from nature by Herbert himself, 
Fred. E. Pond says in his Memoirs that the most com- 
plete record of Frank Forester's literary career is that 
published tmder the title of "Foresterian Bibliography," 
by the late W. I. Faddis, who wrote under the nom cle 
plume of "Toxophilus." This serial appeared in fourteen 
numbers of volumes 6 and 7 of the "Chicago Field." Many 
of us who have not the early files of this paper would like 
to see this matter collected and reprinted in pamphlet 
form. RuTHVEN Deane. 
rose very high in the air and shot south, apparently in 
the direction of his residence, and with one long, cat-like 
shriek disappeared from sight. Mark O'Meaea. 
QuBBEC, Feb. 19, 
A Peculiar Incident. 
A PECULIAR incident happened to me while hunting red 
deer in the county of Beauce, about forty-five miles from 
the city of Quebec. It was on a fine day toward the end 
01 December, at about 5 in the afternoon, and the' sun 
had just disappeared in the west, leaving a peculiar red- 
dish twilight known only to the Canadian woods in win- 
ter. We were very tired, as it was after a day of hard 
tramping— the snow being very deep we were, of course, 
obliged to wear snowshoes. We were homeward bound, 
feeling rather blue, as our luck with the deer had not 
been very good. We suddently came upon a large 
clearing sloping toward the center, where ran a small 
stream, now covered with 6 feet of snow, above which 
appeared, like a tangled fisherman's net, a thick elder 
bush. At about 100 yards ofl: I noticed something which 
appeared to be either foxes or hares scufiiing in the 
snow, when suddenly a large bird rose in the air, carrying 
with it a struggling animal. The bird rose, only to fall 
again, and the scuffling was renewed. I ran up to within 
a few yards of the combatants, and then I saw that the 
bird was a large owl, which had evidently captured a 
hare, which was so heavy that the bird was only able to 
fly a few yards with it, and the owl had its talons so 
firmly gripped in the hare's skin that it was unable to re- 
lease its hold. 
At first i thought that I would end the fight by putting 
a bullet into one of the combatants, but upon second 
thought I said, "No, I may be able to capture the owl 
alive." I accordingly inspected them as closely as the 
owl would permit, for he was looking at me with very 
wicked eyes, and hissing like a tomcat when a fox terrier 
runs up to bid him good morning. The hare shoved his 
head deep into the snow, as if he thought I could not 
harm him so long as he could not see me, which I have 
often noticed is a very common behavior among our 
Northern hares. 
I borrowed my companion's mits and put them on over 
mine, grabbed the owl by the wings and the hare between 
my knees, and was obliged to cut the hare's skin to re- 
lease the owl's talons. As the poor hare could not live, 
his injttries being too severe, I put an end to his suffer- 
ings, and the next morning for breakfast we enjoyed 
some very good fried hare with onions. 
I tied up the owl's wings and got him safely to camp 
and eventually to Quebec. One of the leading furriers 
in the city, Messrs. Holt, Renfrew & Co., requested me to 
loan them the bird to exhibit in their window, which I 
did. He sat very stately in the window, eyeing the crowd 
of spectators in the street, looking very wise, and now 
and again giving a wink to a pretty girl who might 
happen to be looking at him, and she woitld go away 
quite flattered at such a compliment from the king of 
the midnight forest. He created quite a sensation in tlie 
window, as he was probably the largest Western horned 
owl seen in this part of the country for a long time. He 
had still his fall suit on, but had adopted a white collar 
and white buttons to his waistcoat and also small dots 
of white on the tips of his wings. Notwithstanding that 
he was surrounded by some of the finest furs in the 
dominion, I think he had quite a right to believe that he 
was the central attraction, I brought him home, where 
T kept him for a week, but as he would eat nothing and 
had a fancy for settling on the back of Jack, my Irish set- 
ter, and was very fond of trying to break into the parrot's 
cage, which scared poor Polly nearly to death, I thotight 
better to let him go; so one night I released him. Tie 
Experience with Wild Animals. 
YuMA^ Ariz.^ — Editor Forest and Sfreom: My observa- 
tions of "dangerous wild animals and others matters" are 
to the end that no two men see such-, things alike. The 
temper and- disposition of animals are in nowise diflferent 
from those of men, I have seen some of the grandest 
.specimens of "dangerous wild animals" scamper like 
frightened sheep, and again ,some mangy looking brute 
of the same breed stand his ground and tear the life out 
of everything getatable. Based on an experience scat- 
tered over a wide range of country, I have long believed 
that dangerous wild animals are like Indians— bad till 
their good character is proven, a something that occa- 
sionally is a little slow in showing up. Although the most 
ferocious brute on earth is liable to bolt on sight, there 
is no beforehand assurance that it is going to do so. 
Salvation comes more surely through steady nerves and 
good guns than it does through the bolting qualities of 
dangerous animals. It can never be foretold what the 
individual animal is going to do, nor is it what the ma- 
jority will do that concerns the average man, but it is 
what the minority does do. 
So far as my observations go, the common black bear 
is the most harmless of all dangerous animals, but at 
the same time the aphorism "a good Indian is a dead 
Indian" is applicable to him and his kind. 
A partner of mine in the long ago, by the name of 
Leroy. while prospecting in British Columbia, saw a black 
bear drop to the ground and deliberately lie in wait for 
him. He was following ,3 trail through timber and at 
some distance ahead he saw a black bear standing at 
right angles with it, but looking along it in the opposite 
direction. He walked on, expecting it to scamper the 
moment it caught sight of him, but it did no such thing. 
Apparently thinking itself unobserved, it dropped flat and 
lay with its nose against the lower edge of the trail, evi- 
dently intending to jump on him as he went by. The 
would-be biter was bit with a pistol bullet in its head. 
Now, I did not see this thing actually occur, but there 
has never been a shadow of doubt in my mind as to the 
absolute truth of this statement. 
Again, I knew a prospector to he badly bitten and 
scratched by a younger bear of the black kind. It was 
lying behind a log and as the man stepped over it rose 
up and tried to hug him. Of course there can be a doubt 
as to this attack being premeditated, but that need hot 
be argued here. 
In the spring of 1872, in a logging camp on the Truckee 
River, California, a couple of grizzly cubs afforded much 
amusement. They were little fellows and could be held 
at arm's length like kittens, if taken by the back of the 
neck, but they were ever ready to get in a bite when the 
opportunity offered, and this was given by nearly every 
stranger that struck camp. They would cunningly stand 
near the post to which they were fastened and pretend to 
be looking elsewhere, but the moment a leg stood within 
liinit of their chain it was not quick enough to get away 
without being nipped. This trick was deliberately planned 
and carried out. For some time it formed the standard 
arnusement for both bystanders and bears. In my own 
mind, I am fully convinced that bears will not only not run 
at all times, but that they will deliberately lie in wait for 
the unwary and unsuspecting. 
I once saw an adult brown bear, or a young cinna- 
mon, I could not then tell which, deliberately stalk a 
man, but the moment it believed itself discovered it stood 
still, and bolted the instant the man again turned his 
head from it. 
I know that many animal mothers will abandon their 
young at the first scent of danger, but there is still that 
uncertain minority t'o be considered. With a companion 
I once chanced on an old grizzly with one cub. We were 
on horseback and she saw us quite a distance away. She 
made not the slightest attempt to escape, but sat up and 
swung her head from tide to side, uttering "Whuf I Whuf !" 
as she did so. It is possible that we could have ridden 
off without interference had we wished, but it was plainly 
evident that she held the right of way in her direction 
and proposed to keep it. In the mixup that followed, the 
cub would get between her legs for protection, but she 
would knock it end over end without the least com- 
punction. She was thin in flesh, but she was the longest 
bodied brute of her kind I ever saw. 
When employed at the Plumas Eureka Mine, in the 
Sierra Nevadas, I knew of two miners finding a prize of 
young cubs as they were crossing the country from one 
mining camp to another. The mother shortly afterward 
found them and mauled one of them so badly that for a 
long time he was expected to die. Later another cub 
was brought to camp, and the man who brought it in told 
me that he had seen nothing of the mother, although he 
had been expecting her with fear and trembling. 
Early in the eighties two soldiers from Fort Huachuca 
were hunting in the range south of the post. They found 
two cubs of a brown bear and were returning with them 
when they were overtaken and attacked by the mother. 
The one nearest to her dropped cub and gun and headed 
for a neighboring tree. As he was unable to climb he 
spung around it with the old bear a close second. While 
so engaged, his companion got in a lucky shot and killed 
her. 
Hon. A. F. Banta, well known throughout Arizona, 
was. in days agone, in the employ of the Government as 
an Indian scout. One day he chanced on an old cinna- 
mon bear and cubs. Without a moment's hesitation she 
i-ushed him and he killed her by discharging his gnn 
down her open mouth. He stated to the writer that the 
attack was wholly unprovoked and his call for a mauling 
exceedingly close. 
About ten years ago a Mexican returning to Tucson 
from a placer cainp in the Santa Ritas met a bear on 
the trail, and was instantly attacked. When the trouble 
was over the bear was dead and the man nearlv so. The 
former had twenty-nine knife wounds on its body and the 
latter was minus one eye, had a broken arm and' shoulder 
and was otherwise badly used up. When found the next 
day. he was more dead than alive, but he eventuallv 
recovered. 
