April 5, 1902. \ 
The Guide. 
He was tall, lank, lean and grizzled, and taciturn to 
a degree. Having spent in Texas the early years of his 
manhood, as ranger, buffalo hunter and rancher, he had 
been driven further and further west by the resistless 
tide of emigration, keeping well to the frontier, until 
there was no longer any frontier ; then he pulled up stakes 
and went to Mexico, where as prospector, hunter and 
guide, he could still live the wild life that to him is the 
qnly existence worth while. 
I had written my friend Robinson that I would be in 
Casas Grandes on a certain day with a party of friends 
bound for the Yaqui country on a hunt. When we -ar- 
rived he told us not to venture into that wild region of 
high mountains and fathomless canons without a guide, 
and so we engaged Tom Alston at once, and a treasure 
he proved. For the first four days it was travel over 
mountains. Through deep gorges the train of men and 
pack mules wended its way, single file, with old Tom 
in the lead, silent as a mummy except when asked a 
question; then after deliberating a full minute, he would 
r answer with a drawl peculiar to men of the frontier. 
Finally we reached a region known to be infested with 
a small band of Apaches, and were keeping a sharp look- 
out for "Injun" sign. It rained all the afternoon and 
kept us under tent, but next morning we started out 
afoot to hunt deer. I soon discovered a fresh moccasin 
track, and later counted the footprints of eight unshod 
horses going single-file. I had had hunting enough for 
that day, and returned to camp, where I found all the 
others eager to get out of that section and to strike camp 
in a lest hostile region. As usual, old Tom was silent, 
but the look of disgust on his face was ludicrous to 
see, and finally he could contain himself no longer, but 
blurted out, "You fellers make me tired talking of run- 
ninig from a few lousy Injun varmints. You remind me 
of a lot of tenderfeet jest like one I had with me once in 
a scrap with a lot of Cheyennes up on the plains in 
Texas." 
This was a long tirade for him, and knowing some- 
thing of his history, we begged him for the story. He 
hesitated, cut off a piece of Navy plug, placed it in his 
mouth, then began as follows: "It was 'long in the '70's 
when I was a ranger, and ranging in them days was 
worth follerin. I went out to look over a section of 
country 'bout twenty miles from camp, an' a tender- 
foot' what was down from New York tryin' to grow a 
new pair of lungs, concluded he wanted to go, too. So 
we set out early one mornin' and 'long 'bout 'leven I 
saw a party of Injuns 'bout a mile away. They saw us, 
loo, and halted. Now„ I knew 'twas no use to run for 
camp, so I looked about for a shelter, and saw about one- 
third of this distance between the Injuns and us about a 
half-dozen little sand hillocks covered with mesquite 
brush, and I knew our salvation was to reach them ahead 
of the red devils in front of us. The tenderfoot was 
scared and wanted to run, but I told him no ; and dig- 
ging the spurs into our horses' flanks we set off on a 
dead run. The Injuns seeing our game, tried to beat 
us; but we gained the shelter ahead of them and tied 
our horses in a little depression 'tween the hills, then got 
all the cartridges out the saddle pockets and poured 
them into our hats. Then I posted myself behind a hil- 
lock, where I could see all that was going, on in front, 
and told the tenderfoot to load the guns for me as. I 
fired them, 'cause he was jest nacherly so scared he 
couldn't sit still, and I knew I was going to have the 
fightin' to do, so I thought I'd give him something to keep 
his mind occupied. Well, the varmints, seeing we had 
got the upper hand of them, halted just out of range. and 
had a pow-wow ; then havin' finished they began ridm' 
in a semi-circle 'long our front, each one droppin' be- 
hind his horse as he got in range. They could not ride 
round us, so they just circled back and forth, yellin' all 
the while and shootin' a 'casional arrer over our way, 
kinder threatenin' like. I stood it for a good ten menets 
'thout gittin' a shot, then I got kinder hot in the collar, 
and so I began pumping lead into the horses, and soon 
had a half-dozen lying stretched out. They didn't know 
what to make of this, and began to stampede outen range, 
an' as the line broke I got in some good shots an' fixed 
three or four. Then they powwowed some more, and 
ag'in they came, same as before; but not a shot did I 
fire 'cept once in a while, when a ho'se blundered and 
exposed his rider. All this time the tenderfoot was 
groaning and begging me to run, 'til. I threatened to 
shoot him. then he quieted down some. I knowed that 
if I could keep them off 'til dark we was safe, 'cause an 
Injun don't fight at night. 
" 'Long 'bout four 'clock I got in a shot, but the 
pony whirled just as I pulled trigger and caught the bul- 
let in its shoulder, an' maddened with pain it tore away 
and made a bee line for where I was lyin', and run up 
to 'bout twenty steps, then whirled. I was ready, and 
at crack of my gun Mr. Injun jest drops, and the pony 
goes back 'thout its rider. Now an Injun will risk his 
life to save a dead compadre from bein' scalped, and I 
knowed fun was goin' to break loose in them neck of the 
woods; and sure 'nough they raised a yell and started 
straight for the dead one, and I was busy, too, just 'bout 
then with pretty good targets, till it got to rain arrers too 
thick; then I dodged behind the hill and lay low for a 
minit, and when I looked up they was going like the 
devil, and some horses had two— a good un'and a bad un 
—and then I happened to glance at the hill in front of 
me. and it looked like a big pin cushion. Them reds 
hated to lose mv scalp, and 'bout an hour by sun they 
tried me ag'in; but I patted two of them and they con- 
cluded they had 'bout enough, so they drew off. and as 
the sun went down I could see them 'bout a mile off. 
As soon as 'twas dark we mounted and set out for camp 
and rode like blazes, though I had to hold the boy on 
his horse the last five miles, and he died next day — 
scared to death, I say. 
"So now if I can lick twenty-five of the varmints, this 
here crowd is good for a hundred," and he closed up 
like a clam. I- J. Bush. 
Texas. 
♦ 
Newly Described Mammals. 
In Volume XV. of the^ Proceedings of the Biological 
Society of Washington, Dr. C. Hart Mcrriam, Chief of / 
the Biological Survey, describes several new mammals 
from Mexico, and a new bobcat from the Rocky Moun- 
tains.' This last, Lynx uinia, is of larger size and more 
northern distribution than is Lynx baileyi, which is a 
common species in Arizona, New Mexico and the south- 
ern parts of Colorado. The type specimen, which was 
not fat, weighed 31 pounds. 
The collections of the U. S. Biological Survey contain 
kit foxes from Alberta to Colorado on the plains, and 
long-eared foxes from the desert of New Mexico, and 
thence westerly to the interior of California. Dr. Mer- 
riam's studies of these specimens show that the Canadian 
kit fox differs subspecifica'lly from its more southern 
relative, and he has named it Vulpes velox hebes. It 
appears that the New Mexican long-eared fox is a 
strongly marked subspecies here described as Vulpes mac- 
roth neomexicanus. The long-eared fox of the San 
Joaquin Valley of California is a new species that Dr. 
Merriam calls Vulpes muticus. 
In the material collected last summer among the high 
Sierras of California arc two new shrews. 
Most interesting of all these new mammals to sports- 
men are two new bears from the Alaska Peninsula. These 
are from the material collected by James H. Kidder, of 
Boston, and his friend, Robert P. Blake; secured in 
June, 1901, at Chinitna Bay, a little south of Mt. Iliamnia, 
"on the west shore of Cook Inlet. At this point, these 
gentlemen killed one black bear and ten large brown 
bears, the skulls and skins of which were sent to Dr. 
Merriam for examination. One of the brown bears was a 
cub. On receiving them, Dr. Merriam arranged the adult 
brown bears in two series, according to the size of the 
teeth, placing four which he took to be males in one 
series, and five supposed to be females in the other. 
When the notes on the material were received, he was 
surprisd to learn that there was only one female bear in 
the lot, and- that of the eight males, four had large 
teeth and four small. The skins showed no marked differ- 
ences. 
After careful study, Dr. Merriam feels obliged to con- 
clude that there are two distinct species of large brown 
bears inhabiting the same area on the Alaska Peninsula, 
and he describes the smaller of the two as a distinct 
species, naming it Ursus kidderi, after Mr. Kidder, who 
brought back the material — the first series of skins and 
skulls accompanied by reliable data of the Alaskan brown 
bears — and who has generously presented the type speci- 
men to the Biological Survey collection. This species is 
larger than the Alaska grizzly, but decidedly smaller than 
the Kadiak bear or DalTs bear. 
The large Alaska Peninsula bear proves to be a new 
subspecies of DalPs bear, very much larger than the 
common form, and about the size of the Kadiak bear, 
which the describer calls Ursus dalli gyas. 
N* Y. Zoological Society's Musk-Ox* 
Hon. W. C. Whitney's interest in game animals is 
very well known, as is also his willingness to forward 
good works of whatever nature. This combination has 
proved a very fortunate one for the New York Zoological 
Society, since Mr. Whitney has just purchased and pre- 
sented to the Society the little musk-ox which has at- 
tracted so much attention since it first reached these 
shores nearly six months ago. 
The story" of the capture of the musk-ox was told in 
Forest and Stream of Feb. 22 last. Since then the ani- 
mal has been on exhibition in New York, and at the 
close of the Sportsmen's Show here, one of the owners, 
Julius Friesser, of Chicago, approached the management 
of the Zoological Park, and put a price on the animal. 
This price Mr. Whitney at once paid, and turned the 
musk-ox over to the Society, of which he is one of the 
Board of Managers. 
The musk-ox is by all odds the rarest animal now pos- 
sessed by the Zoological Society, which is to be greatly 
congratulated on its ownership of the animal. No doubt 
it will be guarded with the greatest care, but it is ob- 
vious that its greatest danger during the summer ^vvill 
be not the heat — however much that may oppress it — 
but the food which it is likely to feed on. 
The musk-ox arrived at the park last Thursday, and 
has been turned out in one of the inclosures on Moun- 
tain Sheep Hill, where are confined several species of 
wild sheep and goats. The location is an excellent one, 
and great hopes are entertained that the animal will do 
well. ■ . 
As already said, this is the first living musk-ox ever 
exhibited in the United States, and there are only two 
others in the world shown in zoological gardens. 
A Rail at Sea. 
S. S.. Mexico, Havana, Cuba, March 26.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: While on my last trip up to New York, I 
caught aboard this ship sixty-five miles southeast of Cape 
Lookout, a sora— more frequently called the "Virginia 
rail." I brought him to New York and shipped him 
home to Virginia. The bird was very fat and in perfect 
condition, but only seemed to be a little tired from his 
long journey. As this bird generally appears in Virginia 
in September, and leaves on the first sign of frost, I 
should like to know how to account for his being in that 
neighborhood at that time of the year, 
A, M. Scott, Purser. 
[The occurrence is an interesting one, but has not our 
correspondent confused two birds ? The sora, or Carolina 
rail, has a short bill and the under part of its body is 
of a bluish or yellowish cast, according to sex and age. 
The Virginia rail, a bird of about the same size, has a 
long bill, and its under plumage is reddish in cast. 
We take it that the bird had started on its northward 
migration and was working its way toward its summer 
home. It must be remembered that it has long been 
spring and warm weather in the Carolinas.] 
Otter in Great South Bay. 
On Saturday, March 22, Mr. E. Childs, of New York, 
killed an otter in the Great South Bay, a very unusual 
occurrence. Mr. Childs was rigged out at a place called 
the Hospital, just west of Smith's Point and opposite 
Carman's River, with J. W. Rowe, of Centre Moriches, 
L. I. The otter was seen among the decoys, and was 
killed with a charge of No. 5 shot. Mr. Childs believes 
that he came from Carman's River, for it is said that 
years ago otters inhabited that stream. The animal is 
said to have been froni 3J/2 to 4 feet long. 
Of course, the presence of one otter presupposes that 
of others, though equally, of course, otters make long 
journeys by land or by water. The occurrence is an in- 
teresting one, and we should be glad to hear other re- 
ports from Long Island about the otter. 
Partridges Dying from Lead Poisoning. 
During the past shooting season a friend tells me that 
he lost a great number of his partridges, which died from 
eating shot. He found, on opening them, that their giz- 
zards were full of shot pellets that the birds had picked 
up as they fed. Supposing these birds to have been feed- 
ing, say, on a rabbit warren after two days' shooting 
there, it does not seem unlikely that some of the 5 cwt. 
of shot fired by the eight guns would be picked up by 
partridges. — Harold Malet. [There is nothing improb- 
able in the suggestion, for a similar thing has been several 
times reported in the case of pheasants. The birds pick 
up the shot pellets in mistake for seeds, and get lead 
poisoning which results in paralysis.] — London Field. 
(§mt{e §dg und 0nn. 
— $ — 
Proprietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Streak. 
California Letter* 
A very warm fall, general fusilade along the coast, and 
perhaps continuous drought, all had deterrent influence 
ttpon duck migration, so the hope of plenty aroused early 
in the season has not been fully sustained. Report 
comes from many points in Southern California that 
quail have been more abundant the past winter than for 
years, especially where warden or club prosecuted in- 
fraction of the law during close season, which persuades 
the observer to be quite sanguine about this variety of 
game, -decidedly the finest in our State, being restored to 
its previous haunts. Rough water and extremely high 
tides, coupled with severe cold in February, put a quietus 
on the perch fishing to be had at a few coast points 
earlier in the winter. 
This section has at last awakened Jo the need of pre- 
serving its game, and hereafter a local club will see that 
nb illegal hunting occurs. President H. T. Payne, of 
the California Fish and Game Protective Association, 
and special agent of the State Board of Fish Commission- 
ers, while making a recent tour through these parts, 
organized at Ventura, through the aid of local sportsmen, 
a protective club with. Dr. H. M. Staire as its president. 
Santa Barbara county, immediately north of Ventura, 
has had such a society for a number of years, and through 
reward or other means the way of the transgressor be- 
came a path of punishment, until now at the remotest 
point of its mountains, though a guest be unlikely to 
break any law, the host will warn him not to kill game 
out of season if there is to be no hard feeling or unfor- 
tunate consequences. This is a wholesome sentiment, 
especially for the creatures to be protected. 
A meeting was held at Los Angeles, Feb. 13, by the 
Los Angeles County Association, which has nearly three 
hundred members on its roll, and aims to secure at least 
a thousand in the immediate future. President H. 
T. Payne, of the State Protective Association, made an 
address, in which he stated that the game in this county 
was worth $500,000 a year to it, that one wealthy sports- 
man had spent as much as $20,000 since coming here a 
few years ago, and advised the citizens to look after such 
a profitable source of revenue. This appeared a unique 
view. President H. W. Kelfar, of the State Fish Com- 
mission, also made a few remarks. J. J. Chapman, 
county game warden, reported sixteen arrests and $400 
in fines as the result of his work for one year. The club 
has applied to the General Land Office at Washington, 
through the local head forester, to have the San Gabriel 
reservation made a game preserve. 
The game protective associations throughout the State, 
so far as I can judge, appear to favor legislation which 
shall make of the wild tracts set aside for forest reserva- 
tions, preserves for restoring to the State its legitimate 
fauna or otherwise adding to it natural life; and the 
forest rangers, to whom the careless hunter and his fire 
must be a never ending threat, almost without exception 
regard as wise any move that may lessen this danger to 
the mountain. Campers who are not hunters stay at one 
place long enough to be identified, and therefore show 
more precaution about putting out fires. Game would 
prosper if hunters were restricted. Last season Zaca 
range was visited by large parties who virtually made 
drive hunts, which resulted in exterminating the deer. 
The island of Santa Catalina l which has been the in- 
centive for more rumors than any other California resort, 
lately the scene of great perturbation because the Berk- 
ley scientists declared it would sink in time, likely within 
five hundred thousand years, now comes into notice with 
a goat story. One of the Riverside hotels wanted four 
wild goats, and guide Joe Adargo, of the island, to- 
secure really fine specimens, camped out near Eagle's 
Nest for a week with his fast«st ponies, that he might 
catch a herd far enough from cover for him to use a 
rope. Three victims were dead easy, but the fourth cap- 
ture, a rare old grandfather with fleecy whiskers, clearly 
indisposed to permit any trifling, as soon as he felt the 
rope knocked Joe from the saddle, when the two had 
quite a pretty scrimmage. Man rising from the ground 
always would tempt a goat, so the guide went down re- 
peatedly. His lasso snapped at the first onset, and his 
