Dec, 20, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
491 
poorer every year and less able to furnish the wood its 
owner needs. The skill the farmer exercises in the man- 
agement of his crops is not of the kind that enables him 
1.0 manage properly his timber. He needs the services of 
a forester. 
Usually, only one visit to the farm by the Bureau's 
expert is necessarj', and this service is given without cost 
to the owner. When, as occasionally happens, a second 
visit is needed, the owner is required to pay the traveling 
and living expenses of the expert while employed at the 
work. 
Game Reftigfes* 
Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 8.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your reference to "Massachusetts Game Refuges" in 
your issue of Dec. 6, calls to my mind what seems to me 
a most excellent suggestion to be adopted by the State 
of New York. Sometime ago I wrote a note on this sub- 
ject, but iinally cast it into the waste basket. My sug- 
gestion would be that the State establish in different 
localities, and especially about the sources of our streams, 
a number of parks as game and fish refuges. In these 
parks there should be neither fishing or hunting. Of 
course they should be in the charge of a keeper who, let 
us hope, might be something besides a man with a politi- 
cal pull, and who miglit retain his charge so long as he 
performed his duties faithfully and honestly. 
The State could purchase or acquire at a small cost 
comparatiA'ely, sufificient land in different localities to 
establish such parks, and they would not only protect the 
I sources of our water supply and streams, but assure us 
' game and fish that would migrate therefrom and thus 
' furnish a lasting supply of both, to some extent at least. 
The land necessary for these parks or refuges would 
necessarily be such as is located in the hilly and rougher 
portion of the State as well as marsh lands. In fact, a 
\-i.'ry few thousand dollars, if discreetly used, would pur- 
chase a lirge number of acres in different sections of 
the State. 
' This to me is a subject that I think every lover of 
nature and sportsman, would be interested in, and I 
should be pleased to have their expressions together with 
yours through the medium of your journal. 
If the idea is a favorable one it is not too late to pro- 
cure the necessary legislation at the coming session of the 
Legrislature. - .F. 
Massachusetts Game* 
North Beverly, Dec. 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
All this fall there has been a great scarcity of ducks in 
the ponds of this section, and as far as I can learn this 
, applies all over eastern Massachusetts. Geese were a 
total failure and black ducks at a premium. The only 
birds that appeared in any numbers were bluebills. 
Among a number of odd birds taken at the stand was 
a canvasback, shot on Nov. 13. This was the first ever 
I taken here to my knowledge. 
Longtail ducks were also shot in the pond for the 
first time, and at the early dates of October 19 to 21. 
During the last few days there has been quite a little 
flight of American mergansers with some spleridid male 
birds. It is a curious fact that the males of this species, 
and also the male buffieheads and hooded mergansers 
are very rarely seen here, while the females of all these 
birds are rather common. 
The luain duck flight this fall was from about October 
10 to 26. The geese were seen in greatest numbers on 
the 14th, 15th and i6th of November, but on account of 
I exceptionally mild weather, few if any, were secured. 
Later than this there appeared to be only a stray bunch 
now and then. 
Woodcock were, of course, very scarce. In about nine 
days' hunting in the towns of Beverly, Danvers, Wenham 
and Topsfield I started only three. Snipe were practi- 
cally absent. I &aw only two, and other gunners reported 
about the same. Last year we had a fair number. 
Qiiail were in good numbers for so shot out a locality 
as this, and ruffed grouse seem to be on a steadj'- increase. 
It is only to be hoped that they will continue to have 
the chance to do so. J. C. Phillips. 
Missachasetts Deer. 
WiLi.iAMSTOWN, Mass., Dec. 10.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Last Sunday, Dec. 7, two companions and my- 
self saw three deer in Williamstown, Mass. They were 
a doe and two fawns, and had come to the edge of a 
wooded hill, about a mile from the town, to eat some late 
apples which still clung to the tree. 
Ten years ago deer were about as common in Williams- 
town as elephants, and one might walk the hills all win- 
ter and never see a track. Now, however, they are seen 
quite commonly, and just across the Vermont line several 
are killed every year. 
The notable increase is interesting as a commentary 
on the good laws of Vermont and Massachusetts, which 
1 hope may long remain on the statute books. The war- 
dens, too, deserve credit for enforcing the laws. 
David E. Wheeler. 
The Sportsmen's Show. 
The ninth annual Sportsmen's Show, held under the 
auspices of the National Sportsmen's Association, will 
I 'pen at Madison Square Garden, New York City, Satur- 
day, Feb. 21, 1903, and continue until Saturday, March 7. 
One of tlie features will be many reputable and compe- 
tent guides from hunting and fishing sections, never be- 
fore represented. 
Flj^-casting, rifle and revolver contests — never failing 
sources of interest to the general public, as well as to 
sportsmen — will be held under the management of those 
well qualified to conduct such contests. 
Trade exhibits, excepting launches, marine engines and 
motors, will occupy space on the gallery. Launches, ma- 
rine engines and rnotors will occupy space on the main 
floor. J. A, H. Dressel, 
General Manager.. 
All commimiidtions intended for Forest and Stheak should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Ca., New 
rkt and aot lu aay individual eeaoecte4 wjtlb tht p«p«r. 
West Virg-inia Sktinfc Protection. 
MoRGANTowN, W. Va._, Dec. 10— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Under the provisions of a recent law, whenever 
two hundred citizens sign a petition requesting it, the 
law_ is put in force, in the county in which such petition 
is signed, prohibiting the killing of skunks. Six or eight 
countiT:s in the State have put this law into effect. 
Emerson Carney. 
— ^ — 
ProprieJorg of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Fokest and Stkeau. 
The Mahseer. 
No FAMixv of fishes has a better claim to noble rank 
than the Cyprinidce. From remote ages the carp has been 
associated with man in the Far East, where it has lived 
a gentle and civilLzed life in fish ponds, estheticnlly sur- 
rounded by stone lanterns, dwarf pine trees, porcelain 
bridges,_ and lotus blossoms. Migrating from Central 
Asia with the Aryan race, this ancient family planted 
scions in Europe, and their descendants swarm there at 
the present day, especially in the fish preserves of Ger- 
many and Austria. Among them there must be carps 
of long pedigree, whose ancestors were, perhaps, favor- 
ites of some early Chinese emperor. 
Centuries of culture seem to have developed the intelli- 
gence and special senses of the carp. Its alertness and 
the cunning it displays in avoiding the sweep of a net 
have not escaped observation. Fisli in general are sup- 
posed to be deaf, or, at any rate, somewhat hard of hear- 
ing; but there is no doubt that the tame carp knows and 
answers a call to feed. Owing to its being regularly fed 
in ponds, it has lost the habit of hunting small fry; and 
the carp is. therefore, reckoned among the least predatory 
of fishes. Izaak Walton pays tribute to the fineness of its 
breeding, its quality, when he speaks of the carp as the 
"queen of rivers; a stately, a good, and a very subtle 
fish." 
Yet, in spite of this praise, the carp in modern England, 
where it is inore common than in this country, is not 
highly esteemed by sportsmen. It herds with roach, dace, 
and other "coarse" fish— as they are called — in muddy, 
silent streains, or grows fat and sluggish in a placid 
pond, where it is angled for with float and worm. It 
is not a lively, sporting fish; that is the head and front 
of its offending. English fly-fishers, who know little gf 
the bass fatnily, are apt to look on the SahnonidcB as the 
only game fish in existence. 
The British angler exiled in India has discovered, how- 
ever, that he is dependent upon the Cyprinidce iov s'gort 
They are distributed throughout that continent from the 
Vale of Kashmir, across the northern border, to the Car- 
hatie. district in the extreme south. They are found in 
the swift streams of the Doon as well as in the lakes of 
the foot-hills and the quiet pools of the great Juinna. 
The mahseer, as the Indian carp is usually called, is , a 
.sporting fish, but its disposition varies with the nature of 
its habitat. Trout lose their gaminess in sluggish, sun- 
wanned streams, and the salmon of the forest-shrouded 
rivers of the Pacific Coast do not rise readily to the fly. 
There are similar differences in the sporting qualities of 
the mahseer. If it has to struggle with the cold and 
rapid waters of a torrent like the Thelum, the fish de- 
velops a strength and spirit that makes it the peer of the 
most pugnacious salmon. 
The name "mahseer" comes from the vernacular luaha- 
sir and means "big head." The fish is aptly named. Run- 
ning as it does up to forty or fifty pounds weight, the 
mahseer is a giant carp, with all the characteristics of the 
genus Cyprimts. It is deep in the shoulder and carries 
a big dorsal fin on its arched back; two pairs of barbels, 
those fleshy mustaches from which another member of 
the family takes its name, droop from the corners of its 
almost toothless jaws. At the opening of its narrow gul- 
let is placed a large, flat bone, which crushes indifferently 
hard grains and stout hooks. 
Being omnivorous in its feeding the mahseer is taken 
with various lures. In the Kumaon lakes, a Scotch sal- 
mon fly is used, when the water is low and clear; but the 
fish are generally angled for with molded paste, tinc- 
tured with some strong smelling oil, or with some form 
of spinner. Of these the light, oval, shining brass spoon, 
no larger than the finger-nail, makes very pretty fishing; 
it can be cast underhanded and spun near the surface of 
the water. But where the angling is done from a boat 
and the mahseer run heavy, one uses a heavy, four-inch 
silvered flat triangle, which has two of its corners pro- 
duced and turned up, so that the bait spins round, screw- 
f:ishion, on its axis. Another way, and one that may 
seem strange to. the American angler, is to fish with 
parched peas. These, after a hole has been drilled in 
them with a needle, are threaded, two or three together, 
on the shank of a hook and cast, with an underhand 
action, so as to float on the surface of the stream. The 
hook, of course, is attached to the line with silkworm 
gut and, with -the light grains, weighs no more than a 
small salmon fly. Gram fishing, as it is called from the 
native name for the bait, affords the active angler the 
same exercise and roving delights as fly-fishing; he can 
stroll from rapid to rapid, casting as he goes. But 
mahseer can be taken with "gram" only in rivers where 
they are accustomed to feed on seeds and grains. 
Such a river is the Nerbudda, which, rising in the teak 
forest of Seoni, where Mowgli lived with his friends, the 
wolf-cubs. Hows through the partly cultivated country to 
the south of Jubbulpore in Central India. Twelve miles 
from the city, it flings itself into a deep chasm in the 
limestone formation at a place called the Marble Rocks 
This is the scene of the destruction of the dholes, as nar- 
rated in the Jungle Book. The wild dogs, it will be re- 
membered, were lured by Mowgli to the brink of a preci- 
pice, over which they plunged to be stung to death or 
drowned in their a-ttempts to escape . from the wild bees. 
The nests of these formidable insects hang like benches 
of grapes from the Marble Rocks, and visitors take every 
precaution to avoid 4iaturbing; them- That their stings 
have proved fatal to htimafl beings is shown by the iri,- 
scription on a tombstone close by the chasm, This re- 
cords how an en<^ineer met with his death "drowned by 
wild bees in the Nerbudda." 
This river is, m.or2Cv<!t, one of the sacred stre<aTR.< \ 
Hindostari, There sre vnary Te on i^s br''\l:- ' 
long flights of steps, etet^rs, liv 
scend to perform thfir i^hln\ .is r lu dr-.v me ^ 
the holy water tci take hO-ti<? wi.h then. TllG wors.^inJ - 
eat their meals on these stairs and cast rice, pulse, ar^u 
other grains into the river. This attracts the mijiseer to' 
the ghatils, where they wax fat in the muddy, slug'si'^h. 
pools below the temples. The fish in the Nerbudda have- 
thus become grain-eaters. 
Angling for tame mahseer off the steps of a temple is 
not sport. _ Though not forbidden by law, it is cofrtrary 
to the spirit of British rule, which respects the religious 
prejudices of the natives. But the fish that live in the 
pools and rapids below the shrines are just as foiad &£ 
the peas and other grains as their more favored brethren.. 
Pleiity of such food floats down the river; the fish feed 
on it and may be caught with "gram" bait in the proper 
season. 
The time for fishing depends, like everything else m 
India from the harvest downward, upon the recurrence 
of the monsoon. During this period, which lasts fromi 
June to September, the rain that falls continually, save 
for an occasional interval of fine weather, puts an end; 
to angling. The Nerbudda rises, foot by foot, till ' the 
brown, tumultuous flood is almost level with the brun of' 
its deep channel. After the monsoon, the waters subside' 
gradually till, by the middle of winter, the broad and' 
deep bed appears a world too wide for the shrunken 
stream that meanders through its sands. The weather 
is now set fair, the days cool and pleasant, and the time 
for mahseer fishing has come. 
But you cannot stroll down to the river, rod in hand,, 
as if you ^ were going trouting. The river must be 
"chummed," or ground-baited, at some particular spot,, 
usually a series of rapids. To perform this service you 
send out a "syce," or grass-cutter, or some one of the 
host of servants who swarm round your bungalow. The 
man must be provided with a liberal allowance of grain, 
for, by the custom of the country, he will help himself to 
what he wants and bestow the remainder on the fish. 
When he has attracted the mahseer by assiduously cast- 
ing them daily rations, Nathoo, let us call him, returns to 
say that the "bundobast," or arrangement, is made. He 
then parches some grains, drills them so as to be ready 
for the hook, and, with a reserve supply in a bag by his 
.side, follows the angler to the river. 
At its cold Aveather level the Nerbudda flows at the 
bottom of a deep trench formed by rocky or sandy cliffs 
of no great height. The panther has his lair in the 
strong, jangle-covered .hills that abut on the river; 
though rarely seen, his howling cry is sometimes heard at 
nightfall. The stream does not fill its bed, but winds 
from side to side over pebbly flats and past sandy islets, 
covered, with grass and low bushes, in which the gaudy 
plumage of the wild peacock is sometimes seen to flash. 
1_his IS the .scene of your sport and, if Nathoo has done 
his "chumming" thoroughly, the water will seem alive 
with fish, when he throws a double handful of grain into 
the bubbling rapid, to bring the mahseer to the surface. 
As the gram touches the water, there is an instant com- ' 
motion and a sound like the smacking of many cart 
whips. Not a nose is seen above the waves, but the float- 
ing grains are sucked under. Then you swing the line 
out from your cane rod and let the baited hook float 
down the current over the feeding fish. The first sign 
of a rise is given by the whir of the reel, for the mahseer 
usually hooks himselL All the fighting power of the 
big carp is expended in the first rush. If well hooked,, 
and the leathery mouth holds the hook well, the mahseei' 
may then be reeled in, resisting more or less according, 
to his weight. On the Nerbudda a fish of five or six 
pounds is a good one and, played in a swiriing rapid, a 
fat, ohve-green, ruddy-finned mahseer affords excellent 
sport. Smaller fish abound in the litle streams that join 
the main river. 
Fishing in these waters, with fine gut and but one 
gram on his hook, the exile may almost cheat himself 
into the belief that he is fishing for trout. He drops his 
bait under sparkling cascades into amber pools. The 
living productions of nature in India, all that covers the. 
surface of the land with shade and herbage, is strange 
and unfamiliar, but in the pri niiive elements of rock and 
water he fidits the "to:-ch of nature that makes the 
whole world kin." Fcr grani'e is granite all the ea th' 
over, the rock is shaped lI^d worn awav by .Eastern 
streams into the ft f .ns fainili ir from bovhood to the 
^Jorthern man; and w.aler mike^ the sa 'e .tiusic v,i:|i t.h<. 
pebbles of N'erb 'dda as wilh ih .se of Tweel. Purs led 
in this spirit, his favorite sport charms the angler into 
forgetfulness of his exile,- of the many leagues "of "salt 
estranging sea," that divide him from the" land of his 
b'rth. F. Reid. 
Bass in the S«squehanna and in Cayttga Lake. 
Sayee, Pa.— On the Susquehanna River, a few nailes 
above Owego, some of the finest pike and black bass fish- 
ing of the season has lately been enjoyed by local anglers 
Some especially large pike have been taken both at the 
point above named, and oh the river between Sayre and 
Owego. As a matter of fact, the past two months have 
afforded angling of a most delightful sort on Susque- 
hanna waters. Advices from Cayuga Lake concerning the 
bass and muscallonge and pickerel fishing sustain'^ and 
confirm the report above made. 
Along the east shore of the lake just oflp from what is 
locally known as Esty's Lookout, a large number of bass 
were taken during October and November, and for this 
particular reach of water the bass season, for the number 
and weight of fish taken, must be classed as a record 
breaker. . . ' M. Chill.. 
"Some New Salmon Files." 
The paper on new salmon flies in our issue^'bf Dec. i? 
should have been credited to the L«ndo». Field, from 
which ^©urnal it was eepied. 
