414 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 22, 1902. 
merous enough to furnish plenty of sport, and a good bag 
as well. We made up one day what may be termed a sort 
of official party for a hunt. There were the Governor, 
the Secretary of State, the Auditor, the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, William Robbins, a large landowner and a 
thorough sportsman; the writer, and his young hopeful, 
also sundry negroes and about thirty dogs. The scene 
«of the hunt was Mr. Robbins' 1,000-acre farm in plain view 
•of Raleigh, the sort of place "Bre'r Rabbit" loves. Cotton, 
grass and cornfields, woods and those low places along 
little streams, with high grass, briers, alders and willows, 
which are rabbit resorts, are the features, and then there 
are patches of "broom sage," as the darkies term it, an- 
other sort of retreat for the hare. 
Here are the dogs. Three of them are little grizzled 
fellows, with faces like those of very old men. nonde- 
scripts in the dog world, but only useful and highly 
prized by their owner, Ben, who says, ''Dem's my shag- 
gies. Dey's de greates' rabbit jumpers you ever seed. 
Dey kin run, too, but dey business is mostly jumpin' um. 
Atter dey doos dat, de udder dawgs mus'' ten' ter dere 
part o" de business. If de rabbits anywhere de shaggies 
g-uine ter fin' him. Bet on dat ! He's jus' got ter cum 
out o' de wilderness, en come quick, too." Three of the 
other "dawgs" are beagles or part beagles. Ben calls 
them "beagle houn's," and says "dey goes erlong wid de 
shaggies." Most of the dogs are the rawboned and 
rather large. _ shambling hounds, which are the darky's 
■"best bower," and of which every country negro has at 
least one. 
Great consideration is paid by the white sportsmen to 
the views of Ben and his chief assistants, who has the 
odd nickname of Soldier, possibly becaui^e he shirks all 
other work save rabbit hunting, in which sport he will 
go all day and lead the most strenuous life imaginable 
for a few drinks and the fun of the thing. The negro 
assistants are equipped with iticks, with which they hea.t 
and poke into every "likely lookin' place," to aid the 
dogs in starting or "jumpin' " the rabbits. One darky is 
so clever a beater that he is the first to jump a rabbit. 
Suddenty he emits a yell and throws his stick, and a rab- 
bit rushes out of the edge of the marsh and right into a 
cotton field. The cotton has been picked, but the stalks 
stand thick and strong. There is the rattle and snap of 
the thickly ranged stalks as the dogs and the rest of us 
fairl}^ surge through them. The white contingent is 
around with guns and quigkly gets to points of vantage. 
The rabbit is in his element, the cotton field. He knows 
exactlj-^ Avhat he is doing. The rains and the frosts are 
causing a partial decay of the plants, and the acid in 
them, probably tannic, gives out a strong odor, which 
must tend to diminish that of the rabbit. Then, too, by 
lying down between the rows of the cotton the rabibt has 
a capital opportunity to use one of his favorite ruses, that 
is, to lie down full length, keep still, and let the dogs 
actually run over him. Sometimes he keeps on lying 
there. Again he will turn and go back, sometimes jump- 
ing several feet to one side or the other, to puzzle the 
dogs. Sometimes after the dogs have turned back to- 
ward him, he has' the audacity to run toward them and 
through their lines, as most of them rush heedlessly in 
full cry. 
Ben says : "Rabbits jes' nacherly takes ter er cotton 
patch. I don't rightly know why, but dej' goes dere, sits 
still en saws woods, minds dey own business, er niebbe 
lies down, keeps right quiet en lets de dawgs run right 
over um. De dawgs is crazy ter git de rabbit. Keepin' 
still is what saves de rabbit. Watch de shaggies. Dey's 
trjing ter jump him ergin. Watch ole Blue, dat big 
lioun'. Dat udder big lioun' by him is L;mycr, which I 
calls him because he makes such er fuss.- all de tinxe like 
lawyers en de rote house." Ben grins .-iL his own joke 
and whoops up his does. 
The dogs make all kinds of turns and returns in the 
cotton patch. Presently the writer gets a glimpse of 
something moving. It is "Bre'r Rabbit." A snap shot 
knocks him over, but when the spot is reached he isn't 
there. The dogs go at it again. A minute later some 
one sings out. "Why, here he is," and sure enough there 
lies the rascal, stone dead, in a clear place, seventy-five 
yards from where be was shot. " 
The rabibt is held up so all the dogs can see him, as 
they are called up. Otherwise, they would not go after 
another rabbit without much delay. The darkie.s are 
given a dram, which they take with great relish. It is not 
considered good form in rabbit hunting, as in 'possum 
hunting, to take a drink until the first game is bagged. 
After that there is no limit. "Let's draw down to'ards de 
branch ergin." says Ben. "Dey's lackly ter be erniither 
un um in dere. If not, den dey's sum en de hillside in de 
broom sage. Dey likes dis place, 'cause yander's er 
callard patch, en some turnips is close by." 
LTp gits another rabbit. One of the shaggies jumped 
him. and Ole Blue and Lawyer are leading the chase. He 
goes into- the cotton patch, but so close are the dogs that 
he has to keep on running, so he makes a detour of per- 
haps a mile. Meanwhile Ben posts the people with guns, 
.so as to head off the rabbit at the best points for getting a 
shot. But at this rabbit no shot is taken. The dogs 
ha\e him, and Old Blue fairly tosses him into the air, 
while Ben has to rush in and snatch him from the dogs, to 
Avhich he administers various and sundry kicks and cuffs, 
as they are irvine to eat him. 
"Dem shaggies shorely can run er cold trail, ' says Ben. 
"Dat track dey's on was made last night, erfore daylight. 
Here he goes !" ending with a yell. "Dat's er buck rabbit, 
de old he, en he kin run same as er fox, all day long en 
mo', too. This prediction proves A^ery accurate indeed. 
This particular rabbit crosses a branch twice and makes 
a brilliant dash along the whole line of hunters, while 
the shooting is like that on a skirmish line. The last 
man knocks him over. 
Another rabbit, roused from his snug for min a hollow, 
goes up streams and into the woods, leaps a branch and 
goes into a hole in a tree. The hole is three or four 
feet above the ground, and looks hardly large enough for 
a ferret to enter. The dogs tree. Ben says "Let Old 
Blue say if he's in dar." Old Blue declares with a loud 
voice that something is in that hollow. A forked stick 
is passed up into the hollow. It brings hair. Then a 
split stick is introduced and Ben says, "I'll twiss him out 
en er minnit!" He adds: "He mighty nigh climb de 
tree." One is reminded of the rabbit Uncle Remus tells 
about so delightfully. That particular rabbit did climb 
B, tree Then Uncle Remus' little boy auditor protested 
that rabbits didn't climb trees. Uncle Remus remarked 
vei'y grandly, "Well, honey, dis un did, kase he wuz 
'blceged ter climb." That settled the question. 
The dogs make one fatix pas. They eat a rabbit. For 
this they get a sound thrashing. Then there is a fight 
between three or four of them. Ben explains' their mis- 
conduct by saying, "Dey ain't all mine, and so dey ain't 
'zactly un ter each odder. Some dogs is mighty onfriend- 
ly anyways." 
One rabbit, literally flushed by the writer in a thicket, 
makes a wild dash. The dogs are put on the trail and 
away they go, the writer after them. The Auditor decides 
that' the rabbit will return to that spot, so he takes a place 
in an old roadway. A quarter of an hour he makes his 
report, or rather two reports, bang ! bang ! but these are 
not followed by the shout which announces victory. The 
fact is he missed clean. There are a lot of people back 
of him, ladies, children and darkies, spectators. The rab- 
bit, scared half to death, plunges through these and into 
a branch and disappears as if swallowed by the earth. 
One darky says, "I don' see why dat gemmen didn't kill 
him. De rabbit's eyes look as big as engine headlights 
when he come down dat ole road." That rabbit fooled a 
score -of people in a space of a few yards square, for it 
required another quarter of an hour to find him. Then a 
darky pulled him out of the edge of the branch, dripping 
wet. 
"Dat shorely is er keen un," said Ben. as a rabbit over 
which hunters and dogs had literally walked, got up and 
made tracks the other way, "He jes' sot still en let de 
dawgs show what plum fools dey is." This rabbit takes 
to a thicket along a stream edge, and dodges in and out 
and is shot at several times. One darky finally said, "I 
seed him just' now en I swear he was er sittin' on his 
ba'nches er washin' his face wid his forepaws." This he 
regarded as an act most contemptuous both of the hunters 
and the dogs, but suddenly shouted, "Big-eyed rabbit, 
hoo! boo I" as the shaggies stirred out the sneaking rascal 
of a rabbit. The softer note of the little beagles is heard 
as thev peg away after the quarn,^ Ben allows that good 
as are'the shaggies, "de beagle dogs is de most perseverin' 
kind dey is. Dey kin go anywhere er rabbit kin." 
The Governor was in bad luck. Of the nine rabbits 
bagged in a couple of hours, he did not get one, nor did 
he get a shot. The Secretary of State and Auditor got 
the shots and did well. . „ 
Ben entertains the writer with some stories about the 
rabbit and his ways." He says be has "seed Um er dancin^ 
and er playin' en mighty nigh er talkm' and er smgin . 
Some of Forest and Stream's readers have doubtless 
seen rabbits at plav in the gloaming, and will luiderstand 
what Ben meant; their queer gambols and their squeaky 
little voices being almost uncanny. Ben says they dance. 
Sav^ he- "Den sashavs at one another jes' like people at 
er 'dance Dev bows en dey scrapes, den jumps up en 
cuts de pigeon whing. Yearly in de mornin' en erbout 
dusk is de times dey mos' in genrul cuts up dat erwaj'. 
When dey doos dat erway dey shore is a plum sight Lr 
rabbit is er master ban' ter stir erbout of er night. Owls 
eits atter him. foxes wants him, but he erits eround jus 
flc -amc. Endurin' er de day he, sits eround mighty quiet. 
He's er waitin' ontwell night time. Rabbits eats tros . 
Dat makes um fat. Dey's two kinds un um, de ole hel 
rabbit an' de swamp hyar. One's littler dan de udder. 
Bofe un um kin run like er streak. Fred A. Olds, 
Western Massachusetts Hunt. 
(From Tke Springfield Tiepublican. Nov 13.) 
Nearly a hundred hunters and from 30 to 40 l^ounds 
joined in the opening day's hunt of the Western Mas.sa- 
chusetts Fox Club at Westfield yesterday. It was the 
usual success, although the number of brushes secured 
was not as large as at some of the former hunts. So- 
ciability and good cheer prevaded, which is worth more 
than the killing of a large number of foxes. The ex- 
hilarating exercise with the ever-present expectancy ot 
seeing a fox within gunshot, or the sound of the hounds 
as they jump a fox from his hiding place m some swamp 
or upon a mountainous ledge, is worth much to the 
real fox hunter. Men arc known who have hunted sly 
Reynard for years without having secured a single brtish, 
yet they enjoy the sport keenly and are never dis- 
'couraged. It is the free open air life that appeals to 
them as much as the mere slaying of^the fox. At least 
six pelts were secured, but the driving on the whole 
was disappointing. , - , , , • 1 ^ 
The conditions were thought to be ideal. A ram had 
fallen in the night, and the ground was well dampened 
for successful trailing. Some of the veteran hunters 
however thought there was too much water, and said 
that the scent had been washed off the leaves and grass. 
They also shook their heads when they saw a south- 
west wind was blowing. Their predictions were not 
far amiss, for the trailing was not of the best. Two 
of the old hunters who predicted poor following were 
John Rood and Joseph Clark, of Sandisfield. Mr. 
Rood is 82 years old, and Mr. Clark 79. Both were in 
the hunt. The morning was productive of the best 
driving, and from about 7:30 till 9 there was consider- 
able music from different packs of hounds that had 
caught a scent and started their quarry. Three dogs 
Jumped a fox in the swamp near the lower reservoir 
brook, and for a half-hour there was the liveliest kind 
of a time. The pace was fast and furious, and the 
hounds were led a merry chase in small circles, until 
Mr. Fox finally tired of his capers and led the dogs 
over Mt. Tekoa and nearly to Fairfield, where he again 
began traveling in circles. There were no hunters in 
that section, and the fox failed to return. About 8 
several dogs started another fox at the foot of the 
mountain and carried him along to the north until he 
fell a victim to the unerring aim of one of the hunters. 
There was a vast amount of amm^unition wasted, much 
to the disgust of the genuine fox hunter. Many of the 
novices took to hunting rabbits and squirrels, and there 
was a continual bombardment, after the novelty of 
standing behind a stone wall or tree had worn off. 
The start was made from the Park Square Hotel about 
6 A. M., in 'busses and single carriages. Bugler Pettis 
made a tour of the town about 4:30 A. M., and awoke 
the sportsmen, as well as a majority of the other citi- 
zens within hearing, The threatening clouds cast a 
gloom over many of the hunters,, but this was dispelled 
in a short time, when it was seen that the clouds were 
to shed no water, and the sun peeped through the rifts 
now and then. It was an enjoyaole day for out-doof 
sport, greatly in contrast to a year ago, when there was 
a miniature blizzard raging. The wind in the aftefnooft 
was not favorable to the chase, but there was not much 
to chase after the noon hour. The club made its head- 
quarters at Albert Healey's house, on the road between 
Pochassic and Wyben, and the women of the latter 
village furnished an excellent luncheon to the half-fam- 
ished sportsmen. The proceeds will be devoted to the 
little chapel at Wyben. The majority of the hunters, 
who had stationed themselves along Pitcher street, took 
lunch at Mr. Hayden's farmhouse. Most of the suc- 
cessful hunting was done along the base of the moun- 
tain. There were several good drives to the west of 
Pitcher street along Mount Tekoa, but little fun was 
derived from the hounds cut from the leash near old 
Grindstone Mountain. There was also less trailing to 
the east, toward the brickyard, Trainfield and Furrow- 
town, the foxes apparently being determined to stick 
close to the hills. It was thought that conditions were 
right for them to play the dogs out into the open pas- 
tures and fields, on account of the damp condition of the 
woods, but they did most of their running in the woods. 
Many out-of-town men joined in the hunt, including 
about a score from Worcester and a half dozen from 
Hartford. Several women were also out to have a part 
in the hunt. F. M. Lamb, of Worcester, shot a fox in 
front of C. _B. Daniel's dog, that had been running less 
than five minutes. The dog was all alone, and started 
his fox below the Pitcher Road, to the south of Ball 
Mountain. Mr. Daniels is also a Worcester man, and 
had the distinction of shooting a handsome dog fox in 
front of his own dog soon after Mr. Lamb killed his. 
It was a fine specimen. Both foxes, were shot within 
less than an hour of each other, and both in front of 
Mr. Daniels's dog. This is an unusual record, and it is 
safe to say that Mr. Daniels was as proud of the achieve- 
ment of his hound as he was of having secured a brush. 
Others who secured foxes were Harry N. Phelps, of 
Southwick; Dr. I. H, Pomeroy, of East Gloucester; Ed- 
ward Williams, of Southwick, and Herbert Higgins, of 
Westfield, making a total of six in all, which is con- 
sidered quite .satisfactory, the conditions being consid- 
ered. Dr. Pomeroy killed his fox late in the after- 
noon on the east side of Ball Mountain, and Mr. Will- 
iams bowled his over about 4 P. M., near Grindstone 
Mountain. 
The hunters met in the early evening at the hotel to 
recount the experience of the day. At 6:45 a line was 
formed and the members and guests marched in a body 
to the Gem Opera House, with Officer John S. Breen 
performing escort duty. Hubbard catered for the ban- 
quet, about 175 being present. John T. Way, president 
of the club, called the gathering to order, after the 
cigars had been passed, and introduced E. W. Dicker- 
man as toastmaster. Who presented the speakers in a 
most pleasing manner. Congressman George P. Law- 
rence was one of the guests of honor, and received a 
warm welcome. The speaking was of a high order and 
was brightened by many witty stories. Running through 
the remarks of most of the speakers was a vein of seri- 
ousness, in which was emphasized the value of leading 
lives of honesty and sobriety, and of the need of giving 
freely of time and eft'ort in solving great national prob- 
lems. The manhood of President Roosevelt was com- 
mended by several of the speakers. Congressman Law- 
rence expressed himself as favoring rigid government 
supervision and control of great industries supplving the 
necessities of life. Mr. Green spoke of the democracy 
of the sportsman's life and paid a high tribute to West- 
field, his old home. The other speakers were Judge 
J. J. Quinn. of Hartford, and A. B. F. Kinney of 
Worcester; Rev. W. C. Gordon, S. H. Holmes, c' A. 
Brodeur and II. W. Ely. 
i' Retfieving". 
The best work on retrieving is "Fetch and Carry," the 
well-known treatise by B. Waters. In this work the ama- 
teur can find all the instruction necessary in training his 
dog to retrieve. Every educational step is carefully 
marked out for him, the methods of teaching every detail 
and correcting faults are fully explained; and thus the 
amatur need not be experimenting aimlessly for methods. 
Many collateral branches of training are also treated. 
"Fetch and Carry" has received the indorsement of nearly 
all the expert trainers of America. The chapters are 
The Amateur Trainer; The Importance of Retrieving; 
The Natural Retriever; The Educated Retriever; Imple- 
ments and Commands; The Natural Method! The Force 
System: Seeking Dead and Wounded Birds ;' Incidental 
Training; Wildfowl Retrieving; The Irish Water Spaniel; 
The Chesapeake Bay Dog; Handling Retrievers; English 
Retrievers; Qualities of the Retriever; The Finder-Re- 
triever; The Dog's Mentality. Cloth, price, $1.00. Forest 
and Stream Publishing Company. 
There is a story current at Kuliang (Central China), 
says the Foochow Echo, about a tiger in that quarter 
giving trouble. It is said that a missionary and his wife 
had been worried by a tiger prowling nightly around their 
home. They determined to get rid of it. One night they 
tied a cow up in the backyard and a dog at the front of 
the house. Then they armed themselves with guns and 
kept watch. The tiger appeared, the missionary fired and 
killed the cow. The wife rushed to see what had hap- 
pened, and in her absence the tiger ate the dog. 
If warriors go to war by land, tlie turf shall receive the bodies 
of the slain. If warriors go to war by sea, the ocean shall receive 
the bodies of the slain. From time immemorial our gallant war- 
riors have gone forth in swarms. Human life lasts but for fifty 
years; who would wish to purchase a few miserable years of life 
at the cost of dishonor? March and fire as long as breath re- 
mains, for our lives are at the disposal of the sovereign, our bodies 
are to be sacrificed to the glory of the country; let soldiers die 
with all their wounds in front. The souls of those who thus defy 
death shall be through the ages to come the guardian angels of 
tranquility. So, go forth, go forth, ye warriors; warriors, %Si 
forth! — Author, time and country ^nknown. 
I 
