^24 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 21, 1901. 
If there is any place in the Province where big game is 
more numerous, I don't care to know of it, for here it 
seems to me that any sportsman who has three or four 
Aveeks at his disposal, is properly equipped, and can shoot 
a rifle well, is practically certain of his moose. There are 
many things, however, that should be carefully considered 
and arranged before coming to this country, or any 
other, to hunt The most important of all is your guide. 
Some one has written that a person could go to Frederic- 
ton unannounced and in forty-eight hours, be in tow of 
somebody who knew where the moose and caribou do con- 
gregate ; then if he did not have moose or caribou for 
dinner within the next few days it would be a case of 
bad luck. I can hardly imagine a sport.sman making, a 
greater mistake. I had an opportunity this fall to meet 
one party in the woods who were there on their way down 
the branch, a party of four, who had been in tow of 
somebody for four weeks, with nothing to show for all 
their hard labor and travel. I learned their guides had 
graduated from a logging camp this season. There are 
guides and guides, the same as there are lawyers and law- 
yers, and such as have an established reputation are likely 
to be engaged in advance; and he who takes his chances 
without a recommendation from some of his friends or 
reliable person is more than likely to see the folly of his 
ways. 
The question of rifles for hunting big game is one I am 
liberal enough to leave for each hunter to settle for him- 
self. As for myself, a .45-90 doesn't stop them any too 
qtiickly. From what I have seen I have a very favorable 
opinion of the .30-40 nitro. There are some things in its 
favor. 
Next, ray experience teaches me to advise on the ques- 
tion of shoes, that they be of good, strong make, with 
bellows tongue and fairly heavy soles, and they should 
be large enough to permit wearing two pairs of heavy 
woolen stockings. I am not writing this rambling letter 
with the idea of instructions for old moose hunters'; I 
profited from the experiences of others, and if it should 
prove of any interest to others, there its mission ends. 
Indeed, this country is all that could be desired, either 
by the hunter, trapper or fisherman. The lakes are full of 
trout — I dare not tell the fish stories I heard, for I know 
what somebody would think, if they did not give expres- 
sion to their thoughts. Camp can be supplied easily re- 
gafdless of the size of the party. 
Any sportsman wishing to kill a moose or caribou can 
do no better than to try this section at Trousers Lake. 
Alex Ogilvy as a guide and woodsnwn is all that can be 
desired. To him the woods are an open book. He has 
camps and canoes at convenient places, and is a pleasant 
and intelligent companion in camp, and a gentleman at all 
times. If this letter were not already long I should like to 
describe to you his skill in handling a canoe in presence 
of moose and at close qtiarters. However, if any sports- 
man will write me for any further information, it will be 
most cheerfully given. E. F. Snow. 
Mansion House, New Bedford, Mass. 
♦ 
The Sea Lions Breeding in Captivity. 
A RECENT, number of the London Field contains an 
article by Mr. J. E. Harting, abstracted from the French 
Bulletin du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, giving an ac- 
counit of the birth of a sea lion in captivity, which Dr. 
Harting denominates "an event hitherto unprecedented in 
the annals of zoological gardens." This statement is, as 
will be recognized by American naturalists, far too sweep- 
ing, _ since in this country sea lions have been born in 
captivity on more than one occasion, though we are not 
sure that the young so born ever reached matm-ity. 
The birth in question took place at the Jardin des 
Plantes at Paris, and is reported by M. E. Sauvinet. The 
animal was born in June, 1900, and the birth was dis- 
covered at night. The pup is described as "a small, rough- 
coated animal, bulky and very dark in' color, about the 
size of a Newfoundland dog about two months old." It is 
further reported that on the morning after it was born, 
the mother, holding the young one in her mouth, dived 
with it off the platform. 
M. Sauvinet continues: "For five days after that the 
newly born young one was not allowed by its parent to 
enter the water. Not until the sixth day did she entice it 
in. supporting it when necessary with her back. These 
aquatic excursions were continued daily until the young 
one found itself strong enough to dispense with the mother's 
assistance and even permission to disport itself in the 
water. The arrival of this youngster had the effect of 
lessening, if not terminating the good terms, on which 
the two old ones had hithetto lived together. The new 
mother would not allow her companion to come near the 
young one; there were perpetual squabbles, occasionally 
ending even in a fight, and especially at feeding time, when 
the spectacle was most amusing. Later on, when the 
young one began to exchange a milk diet for a share of 
the fish supplied, more friendly relations began to be 
manifested." 
It will be remembered that the young of many of the 
hair seals are slow to enter the vvater, while the young 
of the fur seal does not'venture into tlie water for some 
weeks after birth. It is interesting to compare this report 
of M. Sauvinet with the account published in February. 
1879, by Mr. Frank J. Thompson, of the breeding of the 
common sea lion (Zalophus calif ornianus) in the Cincin- 
nati Zoological Garden, which is believed to be the first 
extended report of the occurrence of the birth of a sea 
lion in captivity. 
In the same year a pregnant female died in the Phila- 
delphia Zoological Gardens, as we are informed by Mr. 
Arthur Erwin Brown, who tells us also that on June 3. 
1894. a yoimg one was bred in the same gardens from a 
pair which had been confined there for three years. The 
mother was in poor health at the time and failed to freely 
nourish the young one. Efforts were made to rear it by 
hand — on the bottle — ^and everything seemed to go well 
with it for a time, when, without apparent reason, it began 
to fail, and died July 11. no satisfactory cause of death 
being shown by autopsy. This animal was not, as de- 
scribed by M. Sauvinet, rough coated, but was quite as 
smooth as the adult. A platform was arranged for it 
sloping into shallow water, and from the very day of its 
birth it was fond of getting into the deepest part and 
wallowing there. The one bred in Paris appears to have 
lived well through its pnppy stage, and it is to be hoped 
that it is still doing well. 
We reprint below the essential part of the ^irticle on the 
breeding of the sea Hon in captivity, printed in Forest .a.nd 
Stream more than twenty years ago: 
In the early part of June, 1877. I went, sent by the 
Zoological Society of Cincinnati, to Chicago to receive 
some black sea Hons {Zaloplms gillespiei) which had 
arrived there from the southern coast of California. On 
iTiy arrival I found that the female had calved on the 
previous night, therefore thought it best to lie over for a 
day in order that the young might acquire a little extra 
strength to bear the fatigue of the railway journey to 
Cincinnati. They all arrived in the garden in fine condi- 
tion, but had to be kept in their shipping crates for the 
first few days, until an old beaver pond could be arranged 
as temporary quarters for them while the large basin in- 
tended for their permanent home could be built. During 
this time, on account of a heavy freshet in the Ohio River, 
the water in the pond became quite muddy, which affected 
them so much that they were unable to retain their food, 
invariably vomiting up their fish some one or two hours 
after feeding. By giving small do$es of Rochelle salts 
for a few days, all recovered, but the calf died from a vio- 
lent attack of cholera infantuni, caused, no donbt. by its 
mother's milk being affected by the muddy water. 
A short time before the calf was taken sick my attention 
was attracted to the peculiar appearance of the mother on 
emerging from the water after taking her customary bath. 
She was completely .covered with a whitish oleaginous 
substance, about the consistency of semi-fluid lard, which 
seemed to ooze out all over her. As soon as she got into 
the crate with the young one. she commenced rolling, so 
that in a short time the young one and the inside of the 
crate were completely covered with it. The calf seemed 
to enjoy it hugely, and rolled about until his coat glistened 
as if he had just left the hands of a first-class tonsorial 
artist. It instantly stnick me that his mother had been 
preparing him for the water, and I immediately tested 
the matter by taking him out and placing him on the edge 
of the pond, when in a few moments he began to paddle 
about in the water, something he had never before at- 
tempted, although he had been almost daily placed in the 
same position. 
As soon as the large basin was completed, and they were 
transferred to it. I had a fine opportunity of observing the 
tyrannical attentions of the male toward the female during 
rutting season. He constantly swam back and forth along 
the partition which .separated him from another male, fre- 
quently endeavoring to get through, splintering and tear- 
ing the rails with his powerful canine teeth. If the feiuale 
attempted to approach the division she was immediately 
forcibly driven back, when he would redouble his efforts 
to get through, barking and roaring as if beside himself 
with rage. This would be kept up until late at night, when 
the female was allowed to go into the house situated in the 
center of the basin, when he would follow and place him- 
self immediately in the doorway so as to prevent her 
egress. He never seemed to sleep soundly, as he in- 
variably kept up a series of grunts and muffled_ roars, as if 
he were fighting his battles over again in his sleep. I 
would frequently annoy hini by stealing up softly and then 
suddenly scraping the gravel with my foot, when he would 
instantly start up, plunge into the basin, swim rapidly 
back and forth, barking with all his might, until he was 
satisfied there was no interloper about, when he would 
sullenly return to his post and gradually drop off again 
into his troubled sleep. Frequently at night the two males 
would climb to the roof of the house, and in their efforts 
to get at each other through the partition would raise 
sucii a din that persons living at quite a distance from 
the garden would frequently ask me the cause of the 
uproar. 
.\t the end of two months there was a change, when 
the female commenced playing and coquetting with the 
male, frequently pinching him so sharply as to make hun 
snarl with pain' and if he seemed to be much out of hiimor 
she would soothe him by swimming up and giving him a 
good, old-fashioned, conjugal kiss. Finally they quieted 
down to the humdrum of regular wedded life, and early in 
October I noticed that the female was suffering from a 
violent catarrh, which gradually disappeared, followed 
by a dry cough, particularly at night. It was in March 
when she first showed signs of pregnancy, and in May, 
from her appearance when out of the water, I became 
convinced of it. On June 25 the young one was born, 
making the period of gestation, as nearly as I could judge, 
about ten months, and it was some days before the mother 
would aHow me to handle it, and when I did succeed in 
so doing, it was always at the risk of getting a nip, as he 
was certainly the most ill-tempered, snarling, little brute 
with which a dry nurse could be vexed. I soon found out 
that there was but one way of handling him with impunity, 
and that was bv suddenly catching him just back of the 
flippers and quickly lifting him clear of the floor, when he 
would snap and struggle for a few moments and then 
quietly give up. I frequently took him out of the 
house for the purpose of showing him to friends, and foe 
the first three or four weeks he never made the slightest 
attempt to get into the water, although I invariably placed 
him on the lip outside of the door and loosed my hold m 
order that he could be fully seen. During this period the 
mother was let out for a bath twice daily, and after she 
had played about as long as she wished she would swim 
up to the closed door, rear up on the sill and bellow until 
she was allowed to get in to her calf. Invariably in the 
morning, so soon as I would start across the bridge in 
order to turn her out, the male would swim up to the door 
and await her appearance, always exacting his morning 
kiss before he would allow her to plunge into the water. 
After plajnng with her for a few minutes he would com- 
mence sentry duty, back and forth along the partition, 
occasionally making fierce rushes if the other approached 
too near to it. 
In the meanwhile, as the young one never showed the 
slightest inclination to go into the water, in spite of fre- 
quent opportunities to do so, I began to watch for a second 
appearance of the oleaginous matter. Dtiring the fifth 
week after birth, on going into the hotise one morning, I 
found marks of grease in every direction, and the 
youngster shone as if he had just emerged from an oil 
tank. Taking a bucket, I filled it Avith water, placed it in 
his way, and he immediately stuck his head to the bottom 
of it. Fearing an accident, as the water in the bas'n only 
reached within a foot of the top of the lip surrounding 
the house, I had the carpenter construct a small, shallow, 
wooden tank inside the larger one, with a sloping plat- 
form leading into it. So soon as the door was opened 
connecting with it he followed his mother, and in a short 
time was having high jinks swimming and diving to his 
full bent. When he tired he would quietly rest in the 
water with his head lying across his mother's neck, or he 
would scramble up on the platform, stretch himself, have 
a short nap, and then commence his play again. So soon 
as I thotight he had gained sufficient strength the small 
tank was removed, and he was allowed the run of the 
larger one, when his wonderful swimming powers came 
into full play. I have frequently seen him dash off with 
such velocity that the water would part and fly from 
each side of his neck with a fairly hissing sound. Again 
he would dive, and then suddenly make a succession of 
salmon-like leaps with such rapidity that I could easily 
imagine with what little difficulty he would be able to 
capture the swiftest of fish. One of the favorite ways of 
amusing himself was by taking a chip — several of which 
were always kept in the basin — out on the lip, lying on 
his back, and playing with it with front flippers and 
mouth, almo.st precisely as an infant would act with a com- 
mon rattle. At first he was rather shy of the old male, 
but gradually took the greatest delight in swimming about 
with him, and trying to induce him to join in a game of 
romps; but the old fellow was proof against all his wiles, 
and always good naturedly endeavored to get rid of .him. 
I noticed that the female's cough disappeared immedi- 
ately after the birth of the young one ; but about the 
middle of August both her appetite and actions became 
variable, some day^ feedin.g and seeming lively as usual; 
on others she would either take but little or entirely re- 
fuse her food. She gradually grew worse, until Sept. 8. 
when, on going to the basin in the morning I missed her, 
and found the male bitsily engaged in diving at one par- 
ticular spot. He finally succeeded in bringing the body 
to the surface, and when the keeper attempted to remove 
it he repeatedly charged, and it was only by great care and 
watchfulness that they avoided being bitten. On dissec- 
tion it was found that tuberculosis, that scourge of all 
zoological collections, was the cause of her death. 
The young one did not seem to notice the loss of his 
mother until about twenty-four hours after her death, 
when he commenced to sulk, and obstinately refused to 
eat, in spite of every effort and stratagem to induce him 
to do so. He gradually wasted away, and finally died of 
starvation on Oct. 16, having viciously attempted to bite 
me a few hours before his death. The old male grieved so 
over the loss of his mate that for some time I was afraid 
we would lose him also, and at the end of about six weeks 
he became so thin that I thought it best to remove him to a 
small tank indoors. Since, he has been improving slowly 
up to within ten days, since when he showed a marked 
improvement. Frank J. Thompson. 
•Unpublished Audubon Letters, 
Every student of Audubon's Ornithological Biography 
is familiar with the 'name of Professor McCulIoch, of 
Pictou, N. S., who was a warm friend of the nattiralist 
and was of the greatest assistance in helping h'm to secure 
specimens of northeastern birds in their summer dress. 
The son of this Professor McCulloch was Thomas Mc- 
Cttlloch. Jr., of the same place, who was not less devoted 
to Audttbon than his father. He is frequently spoken of 
by the naturalist and was, if we recollect aright, the corre- 
spondent of the late Dr. T. M. Brewer, and in this way 
comes down almost to the present time. 
Mr. Thomas McCulloch, Jr., was frequently called upon 
by Audubon for assistance in collecting his specimens and 
for information as to the habits of the wild birds and ani- 
mals of Nova Scotia, and, throtigh the kindness pi Miss 
Jean W. McCulloch, of Truro, N. S., his niece, there have 
recently come into our possession two letters from Audu- 
bon on these .subjects, from which we are enabled to 
quote. 
The first of these, dated at New York, Sept. 12, 1836. 
contains a request for specimens. It says : 
"I am extremely desirous to procure in the -flesh 
(feathers and all, as ivhen shot), as soon as possible after 
being procured or shot, certain species of Birds more 
abtmdant and more easily procured in your section of 
America than south of it, and now beg of you to fulfill for 
me the following commission. That is to say, to procure 
for me all the species annexed on the other side, or as 
many of these" as you can procure, and put in common 
Rum, or whatever spirits sufficiently strong to save them 
for putrefaction, in pairs as much as possible, and if not. 
by Tzi'os of each species. To have these put into good 
casks with a list of the specimens contained therein, and 
to ship this to New York on the ist of May next, to 
Nicholas Berthoud, Merchant, who is my Brother-in-Law, 
and on whom I now authorize you to draw at sight for 
the amount laid out by you for the specimens, spirits. 
& so." 
On the succeeding two pages is a list of the land birds 
and the water birds which the naturalist desires, together 
with various postscripts, authorizing Mr. McCulloch to 
spend $150 in making the collection, apologizing for the 
trotible caused, but urging him not to fail to assist him. 
Among the species of water birds asked for are the pied 
dtick (Anas lahradora) and the great auk (Alca impen- 
nis). Both as to land birds and to water birds the re- 
quest, of course, is for northern species. This letter, writ- 
ten before the invention of either envelopes or postage 
stamps, was folded and sealed with a wafer and bears 
curious, old-fashioned post marks, and in the upper right- 
hand corner, where now the postage stamp would go, cer- 
tain hieroglyphics made with a pen, which were un- 
dotibtedly intended to show that postage had been paid 
on it. 
The second letter, dated New York, June 26, 1841, is 
another request for assistance, but this time with regard 
