July 20, igor.J 
FOREST AND STR^AJvi. 
o 
Iiouse where my companion was known and where we 
received a hospitable welcome, got a dinner and com- 
fortable quarters for the night. There were plenty of 
mosquitoes, but we put up our toldos — mosquito nets — 
and defied them. We had seen little sign of civilization 
(HI our way upstream. Now and then one of the usual 
cane, or split palm, houses with its steep thatched roof 
and accompanying plantain patc^li canie in sight. Occa- 
sionally we passed patches of corn of luxuriant growth — 
maize^once in a while a few cattle about the bank, but 
careful about getting in the Water, having a wholesome 
dread of the caimans, the crocodiles, of which there ai'e 
plenty in all these rivers. I had expected to see many 
As my hand closed on the small end of the stock and 
the three fingers ran through the loop of the lever, a 
natural restful sort of feeling came over me. I pitched 
the gun |o my shoulder quickly, three or four times, 
sighting on different objects, all the time with my back 
to the caiman. "There, I guess that will do." I said; 
it feels all right,"' and wheeling about 1 threw U]) the 
gun, caiight sight on the caiman, back of its foreleg, and 
let gO. ft was done in an instant, but I knew instinctively 
when 1 touched the trigger that I had it, and was rtot 
astonished at hearing the ball strike, but then— that huge, 
apparently lifeless mass — that inert trunk of drift, as it 
were — suddenly sprang into action that seemed almost 
BRINGING OVER THE PACK CATTLE. 
Photo by Cleci! Clay. 
"'I Ch<^; crestoKes -oil 'ihe way up, but only one or two 
small , ones caime in si^ht. 
We igot awav mesist morning at 7 o'clock, after our 
mornin-K "cofifee md moll," which, in this instance, con- 
sisted of eggs, cassa.\va bread and chocolate. At i o'clock 
we breakfasted on eggs .and cassava bread, with claret 
and water. The events oi the day were much the same 
as those of the preceding one. . Parrots flew back and 
forth across the stream. We scanned the banks an4 
numerous bars for caimans, feat .saw only two or three, 
and those little ones not over eight or ten feet long. 
Occasionally troops of monkeys made a horrible din 
among the treetops, sounding like the noise of two or 
three menageries broken loose. It was 7 P. M. whm 
we reached our destination, Matanzas, and glad motugh 
we were to get there. The place is simply a clearing 
made for pasture for our pack cattle and two or three 
lhatch roofed houses for housing hands and storing 
goods left for us by the steamboats. After dinner we 
had a smoke, then went to bed at 9 o'clock. Next morn- 
ing I was up before 6, had my desaynna, then took a 
walk, finding it warm in the sun but very pleasant in 
; the shade. After awhile wrote a lot of letters, breakfasted 
: about noon, took some photographs and then made a 
•i package of several rolls of film to send home with the 
1 letters. Our canoemen took them with them when they 
\went down stream and mailed them on the steamer we 
lhad left, as it returned from up the Cauca. 
We were met at Matanzas by Harry Dunstan, the 
(Cidlonel's eon, and had to wait there all day to get the 
Ipaudv aniniaia from a pasture across the river and riding 
raviiles Jrom Liana. The pack cattle were brought across 
fovirrat a time. Scopes were tied around their horns, and 
ihey ?iwam beside J:he canoe until they struck bottom 
on OKff side and were driven up the bank. Talking with 
Harry Dunstap ll said t thought it strange we had not 
seen more caimaiis on our way up from the Cauca, as 
I had heard his (father say #iere were so many of them 
in the Nechi. Jle then told me "The men say there is 
a targe one com-es out on that little gravel beach over 
there" — -pomling to a small, steep gravel beach, or bar, 
.some thirty yards long, on the opposite sjde of the river, 
there some two hundred or more yards wide — "every 
afternoon, suns himself for an hour and then slides back 
into the water." 
"Well," I said, as I settled myself in the aforesaid 
steamer chair for a comfortable siesta; "he better take 
care of himself if he comes out there while I am here. 
I'll get my Winchester after him." 
About 3:30 o'clock, as I was dozing in a dreamy, half- 
awake sort of way. I heard one of the men say. "El 
caiman!" I started up. "Who said caiman?" I cried. 
The man ran up "Senor! El caiman! el caiman!" point- 
ing to the opposite side of the river. I looked across 
iLlre stream and there on the gravel lay an object of a sort 
(Dif netitral tint, an unobtrusive, dirty gray color, about 
.•a:s l>ig as a good-sized, sixteen-foot saw log. and appar- 
(einifly large enough to swallow me whole. I had never 
:i>een ,Tmything quite like that before. 
"Hand me the Winchester." Harry went for it. 
INow "the Winchester" was my beloved, though, there- 
tolore. -through the columns of Forest and Stre.\m. 
mucli -maligned, little .73 model .44-40 gun; 20 inches 
long in the barrel, 17 inches between the sights. The 
.stock is all scored, like an old-fashioned baker's tally, 
• with marks for moose killed by it. I had not used it 
for several years, however, having on my last hunting 
trips carried, as a matter of sentiment, another model 
Winchester, given to me by a dear friend and hunting 
companion. I never use an elevating sight on a hunting 
rifle and do not shoot at a mark with a hunting gun. 
"How far is it across there, Harry? You're a good sur- 
veyor and ought to be able to judge distance," I said, as 
I took the gun. 
"Oh. two hundred yards. More than that, I guess," he 
replied. 
"Well," said I, "I have not used this gtm for some 
-time; I shall have to look along it once or twice." 
incredible. Its motions were quick as electric flashes. 
It threw its great tail from side to side, turning its head 
to meet it, up and down from side to side, blood and 
gravel flying. It reminded me of the little devilchasers 
that boys light and set off about the streets on the Fourth 
of July. It was a tremendous exhibition of strength 
and agility. "Jove!" I said; "if those things are that 
quick, Harry, I will take precious care how I go near 
one of them." At last the contortions ceased and the 
jgreat caiman lay out at full length, dead; but its strug- 
igle.fi had taken it .so near the edge of the bank that when 
they stopped, and it lay extended, it rolled off into the 
wa.t.er Mid sank. The "carambas" and "carajos" of the 
man :Stopp,ed, and there was silence until Harry said: 
"He'll presently he floating by Magongue with the buz- 
zards peekiaig at him." 
I handed him the gun, filled my pipe and reoccupied 
the chair. Presently I heard animated talking, and look- 
ing around saw the men, who by this time had each 
rolled and lighted a cigar or cigarette, assembled in a 
group, some seated on a pile of pipe, others on the 
grass; while one stood and declaimed energetically, ac- 
In Muskoka* 
Toronto, July 11. — Editor Forest and Stream: Being 
in Muskoka recently, and while enjoying a smoke aind 
ihe grand vicW froni the veranda of my friend's hoiise at 
the head of Mllskoka Lake, my attention was drav^n to a 
robin flyitig past with What appeared to be a large erfrth- 
worm in its mouth. The robin alighted oil ofie of the 
flowet beds, and dropping what I supposed to be a worm, 
made several attempts to strike it, always retreating a 
few feet before renewing the attack. The unusual method 
of attack caused me to investigate, when, much to my 
surprise, I found that what I had taken for a large worm 
proved to be a small copperhead snake, considerably 
demoralized from the vigorous attacks of our red-breasted 
friend. I do not know if it is usual for robins to attack 
snakes, this being the only instance known to me of their 
doing so. There is no doubt about the species of the 
snake, the mark on the head having the appearance of 
jriurjiished copper. 
Had Kipling been in Muskoka in the month of June he 
w.ouid have found a more suitable title for our northern 
pountry than ''Lady of the Snows." 
■O.n the mainland back of Beaumaris Island bushels of 
fip^ blueberries, or huckleberries, could have been 
gathered during the last week of June; sweet peas in full 
bloojn. .and all kinds of vegetables in the hotel gardens, as 
fully iadvanced as those grown in the Niagara district. 
While in Muskoka admiring the grand and ever-chang- 
ing seeaery, glmos.t unequaled, and certainly not excelled, 
in the wo^rld- the pleasure was marred by the thought 
that so few of rny fellow-creatures vferc able to take ad- 
vantage of what nature has provided, and intended for 
a .siirnmer breathing place for the overworked residents of 
the pent-up cities "apd towns of this vast continent. I 
was greatly surprised that comparatively fcAV take ad- 
vantage of a few weeks' sojourn in this health-giving and 
vigor-building country, so easy of access, and within the 
means of those in ordinary circumstances. Of course, a 
large number of wealthy people have secured islands and 
sites on prominent points of the mainland, on which they 
have erected beautiful summer homes under the shade of 
the forest trees. Many of these homes have wind mills 
that pump the water into tanks located on the rocks or 
high lands, from the pressure of which the water is forced 
into the respective homes with all the facilities of a city 
system of water works; but where hundreds are located 
there is room for thousands, without even the semblance 
of crowding, 
I cannot understand how it is that sensible people, dur- 
ing the dog days, rush to. overcrowded, expensive and 
glaring seaside resorts, instead of going to our Northern 
woods and lake,s, where boating, fishing and bathing can 
be had at the very doors of the hotels and summer resi- 
dences. 
The Muskoka lakes and Georgia bay districts can be 
reached from many of the large cities of the United States 
in one day's travel, and from Toronto in four or five 
hours. Of course to those who would like to go further 
afield it will require a few horus longer to reach the famed 
Nepigon trout and Temiscamingue districts. 
The ordinary discomforts f)f railroad traveling have in 
a large measure been removed by the introduction of im- 
proved cars, good roads, fast trains and courteous officials. 
We have been told there are .sermons in stones ; I never 
before realized the truth of this maxim to the same 
extent as I did on Sunday, Jtilie 30. Standing with my 
OUR HOST, WITH WIFE 
Photo .by 
AND CHILD, NECHI RIVER. 
Clecil Clay. 
companying his discourse with pantomimic gestures. 
"What in the world is that fellow talking about now, 
Harry?" I asked. 
■!Oh," he replied, laughing, "he is telling them that 
all day long he had been praying to all the saints in the 
calendar — at least all he could remember, and especially 
to his own patron saint — that that beast, that devil of a 
.caiman, might come out on the gravel bar. so he could 
see the one-armed heretic shoot at it," 
"I hope he is satisfied," 
"Qh, yes; none of them ever saw such a shot as that 
before." Cecil Clay. 
friend on the mainland, overlook'ingfi Milford Bay, Beau- 
maris and many other islands, awed by the immensity and 
grandeur of the scene, I felt I was in God's church and 
receiving impressions grander and more sublime than ob- 
tainable elsewhere, no matter how eloquent, I thought 
of Dean Swift's sermon on behalf of the orphans, the 
shortest on record, but effective — ("There they are") it 
was all there. Ranger. 
Tlie Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesdaj. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. 
