M, 
AY 14, 1904, 
1 
Questions on the Flight of Insects, 
In the Forest and Stream, a tew months ago, I ven- 
tured the opinion, founded On a little observation which 
I once made, that a butterfly could not continue long 
on the wing at one flight. Since then I have thought 
that perhaps I was wrong in this. This would not be 
remarkable, for I have been known to be mistaken on 
many occasions. I expressed the opinion that a butter- 
fly could not fly more than a mile, perhaps, at one 
effort; but in reading Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, 
chapter 8th, he says: "One evening, when we were 
about ten miles from the Bay of San Bias, vast num- 
bers of butterflies, in bands or flocks of countless myri- 
ads, extended as far as the eye could range. Even by 
the aid of a telescope it was not possible to see the 
space free from butterflies. The seamen cried out, 'It 
was snowing butterflies,' and such, in fact, was the ap- 
pearance." 
If these insects had flown to that distance at sea, it 
is quite a different thing from my guess of one mile 
as their limit. Yet I am puzzled to know why my but- 
terfly should have fallen into the lake. It evidently 
fell through sheer exhaustion. Darwin goes on to say 
that some moths and hymenoptera accompanied the 
butterflies, and a fine beetle flew on board. Butterflies 
we know are numerous in South America, but butter- 
flies in such vast numbers as he here describes we 
imagine must be phenomenal, even there. They could 
hardly have come together by some prearrangement 
among themselves, and the presence among them of 
the other insects mentioned, which are not known to 
have any special affiliations with the butterflies, sug- 
gests the thought that they must have all been swept 
up together over a great extent of country and carried 
out to sea in a body. However, a further remark of 
Darwin's seriously militates against this theory, for he 
says: "The day had been fine and calm, and the one 
previous to it equally so, with light and variable airs. 
Hence," he adds, "we cannot suppose that the insects 
were blown off the land, but we must conclude that 
they, voluntarily took flight." In connection with the 
general subject he goes, on to say that the most re- 
markable instance he' 'bad known of an insect being 
caught far from land was that of a large grasshopper, 
which flew on board the Beagle when the vessel was 
to windward of the Cape de Verde Islands, and when 
the nearest point of land, not directly opposite to the 
trade-wind, was Cape Blanco, on the coast of Africa, 
370 miles distant. This was certainly a wonderful flight 
for a creature so little addicted to long-distance excur- 
sions as the grasshopper. 
In his "Origin of Species," Darwin adverts to the sub- 
ject briefly in his chapter on the "Means of Dispersal." 
He states, on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Lowe, 
that in November, 1844, swarms of locusts visited the 
island of Madeira. This island is off the coast of north- 
western Africa not less than 400 miles. On the main 
land locusts abound in vast numbers, where they are 
sometimes used in great quantities by the inhabitants 
for food. In Robbins' Journal of his captivity on the 
Sahara, a book which boys of sixty years ago used to 
read, the author tells us that on one occasion his mas- 
ter's family gathered about fifteen bushels of locusts 
in one night. 
Mr. Lowe states that on the occasion referred to, the 
locusts came to the island of Madeira in countless num- 
mers, as thick as the flakes of snow in the heaviest 
snow storm, and extended upward as far as could be 
seen with a telescope. During two or three days they 
slowly careered round and round in an immense ellipse, 
at least five or six miles in diameter, and at night 
alighted on the taller trees, which were completely 
coated with them. They theii disappeared over the 
sea, as suddenly as they had appeared, and did not 
afterward visit the island. All of which goes to show 
that these insects at least have immense pbwer of sus- 
taining themselves on the wing. As I lift my eyes 
frqm the page and glance through the window at rrly 
side, it is a wintry prospect that I behold this after- 
noon. The flakes are falling thick and fast. The re- 
mote view is entirely cut off. Between me and the 
nearer landscape is an ever waving curtain of flakes 
that renders all objects indistinct. The gate-posts have 
assumed tall caps of white. My neighbor's roof has 
lost its sharp outlines, and they are now softened and 
rounded by the snow. It is an old-fashioned winter, 
sure enough. The rabbits are dozing on their forms 
somewhere in the thickets. The squirrels are safe in 
their winter quarters. The birds have gone out of 
business entirely. No life is stirring in all the woods. 
Yet the season is not altogether forbidding. Thus 
sings Cowper: 
"O Winter, ruler of the inverted year, 
Thy scattered hair with sleet like ashes filled, 
Thy breath congealed upon thy lips, thy cheeks 
Fringed with a beard made white with other snows 
Than those of age, thy forehead wrapped in clouds, 
A leafless branch thy scepter, and thy throne 
A sliding car, indebted to no wheels, 
But urged by storms along its slippery way; 
I love thee, all unlovely as thou seem'st, 
And dreaded as thou art!" T. J. Chapman. 
Ingram, Pa. 
Female Deer Should be Protected, 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
The paper read by Hon. J. F. Sprague before the North 
American Fish and Game Protective Association, as pub- 
lished in Forest and Stream, on page 354, ought to be 
read with such interest as to bring about some action in 
the combined protection of deer and hunters. 
The almost unconscious actions of a hunter, as a result 
cf the mental conditions which there are so correctly 
analyzed, would seem to show conclusively that any 
direct law to punish men for shooting their fellow men 
in mistake for game does not meet the requirements ; and 
that the remedy must go further back and cause a differ- 
ent working of the mental faculties, so that when game, 
or what is supposed to be game, is sighted, the first irn- 
pulse may be not to shoot, but to ascertain whether it 
:s that which may lawfully be killed. The forbidding, by 
law, of the killing of does would bring about just such a 
change in the mental condition of the hunter. I have 
long believed that to forbid the killing of female deer 
at all seasons would be a long stride in the right direc- 
tion ; but not until reading this philosophical reasoning 
of Mr. Prague's did I realize how closely associated 
might be such a law with the preservation of hutnan life; 
and I would urge any who have passed over this article 
lightly, or who have not read it, to give it a. careful and 
thoughtful reading. It occurs to me that if such a law 
were passed, it would eventually and unconsciously bring 
about some change of sentiment in the sportsman, which 
would be for the well being of the game. Such a law 
would mean that in a short time the deer would be greatly 
on the increase, and that it would become a common 
thing to see many deer during a hunting trip before se- 
curing one. It would become so common, in fact, that 
to see deer would not be the exception, as it often is now, 
but would become such a matter of course that the sight 
would cease to create that abnormal excitement which 
generally prevails when human lives are sacrificed, and 
the thought of shooting would not occur until after a pair 
of antlers had been seen. 
An opportunity would thus be afforded to study them, 
and to get the pleasure which comes from watching wild 
game in their natural haunts. As it is now, the first and 
only thing generally thought of is shoot! shoot! and the 
best part of the woods life is missed. If we were ob- 
liged to refrain from shooting, we would, of course, 
take an interest in watching, and would gradually become 
so interested in them that the thought of shooting would 
come only as an after thought, and the danger oi shoot- 
ing a man would thus be minimized. _ 
What true sportsman would not enjoy his hunt more by 
seeing and closely observing from six to a dozen does, 
and killing one buck, than by killing two good deer and 
seeing no more? I have not killed a deer for a good 
many years, and yet if I had my choice to go into the 
woods and see a half dozen deer and get none, or get 
one ah4 see no others, I would certainly get the most real 
pleasure from the former, and would so choose. Another 
feature worthy of consideration is that in this way less 
game would be wounded and left to die in the woods, 
because a closer observation and a more definite knowl- 
edge of the position of the animal fired at would be 
|)9f49d, and the random firing at "spots" and "fleeting 
glimpses" would be lessened. For a few years less deer 
would be killed, no doubt, but in the end it must bring 
about better conditions for the hunters and the hunted. 
Emerson Carney. 
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. 
Portable Boats. 
On Board a Great Northern Train, Montana, March 
26.- — Editor Forest and Stream: Ever since .niy last 
summer's outing in British Columbia I have been intend- 
irig to write you concerning "Portable Boats," but have 
not had a good opportunity till to-day, when, as the sole 
occupant of a sleeping car, I am making a deadly dull 
trip across the continent with naught in view save vast 
snow-covered wastes. 
The object of my letter is to prompt, if possible, a 
discussion in your columns on the very important sub- 
ject of portable boats. The .attributes of an ideal portable 
boat are lightness, strength, rigidity, durability, compact- 
ness when folded, sirnplicity of construction, ease of set- 
ting up and taking down, and adaptability for carriage 
by pack horse. 
My experience has been limited entirely to the Eureka 
canvas folding boat; and my desire to find something 
better leads me to send you this communication. I have 
used three of these boats during the last ten years, and 
have found them in several particulars almost perfect, 
but greatly deficient in others. They are li or 12 feet 
long, 44 inches wide, and weigh, when packed for trans- 
portation, about 80 pounds. For staunchness there is, in 
my opinion, nothing to beat them, as I have shot rapids 
in them when standing up, have climbed into them from 
a muddy lake when wearing heavy rubber boots, have 
jumped into them in swift waters when wearing waist 
waders and large hob-nailed shoes; have fired right and 
left out of them when standing, kneeling and sitting; 
have bumped them over logs and stones without injury, 
and have transported them thousands of miles by rail, 
hundreds of miles by wagon, and numerous long and 
short distances by both pack horses and men. 
When put together in good shape and ready for use, no 
boat is more serviceable than the Eureka. It will carry three 
men and a small amount of paraphernalia, or two men 
and a full camp and fishing outfit; and it is as safe in a 
stiff wind or a heavy sea as the best of birch bark canoes. 
To some people this last remark will not appear very 
forcible; but to a Canadian voyageur, such as in a small 
way I was when a young man, it is by no means faint 
praise. In my time I have traveled in bark canoes many 
hundreds of miles, across large lakes, in rough weather, 
and up and down swift streams; and never yet have I; 
been capsized, and only twice did I ever ship a dangerous 
amount of water ; hence I swear by the Indian*s bark , 
canoe as far as safety is concerned. However, it is an 
uncomfortable craft in which to istand up and cast either; 
fly or bait, while the Eureka boat is ideal, for this , 
purpose. 
The bad points of the latter craft are as follows: 
First — It is a nuisance to set up,, requiring the work: 
of two men for from half an hour to two hours. The 
work has to be done with patience and caution, in order 
to avoid breakin|f something. Again, if one does not look 
carefully to the markings of the various pieces, he is liable 
to get some piece misplaced, thus necessitating the un- 
doing of all his work and starting de novo. 
Second — The details are cheap and flimsy. The boat 
costs only $20, and it would be much better were the 
price raised a few dollars and the extra money spent on 
correcting several faulty details. The most conspicuous 
of these are clips made of cast iron instead of wrought 
m.etal, the flimsy wooden stopper that is held by a single 
screw to the bow ' or stern stretcher, and the inefiicient 
bearing of the latter at the upper end where it is in- 
serted beneath the junction of the gunwales. 
If I were manufacturing the boat I would make the 
following improvements : 
A— All rib clips to be constructed of either wrought 
iron or aluminum. 
B— The clips at the upper ends of the ribs to be 
rounded and to engage intimately with metal bearings 
attached firmly beneath the gunwale, thus locating the 
exact position of each rib, and avoiding the cutting of 
the canvas by the clips. 
C — Floor plugs for holding the ribs in place to be 
aluminum instead of wood. The wooden ones swell 
when wet and shrink when dry, and the heads get broken 
off. 
■D — A well fitting end and socket to be provided for the 
bow and stern stretchers. 
E— Attach firmly to each of the latter a substantial 
metal bearing to engage with the forked end of the mid- 
dle floor board. 
F — Mark each piece plainly, so that there shall be no 
doubt as to where it belongs, and paint on the inside of 
the canvas a big B (bow) at one end and a big S (stern) 
at the other. 
These modifications would improve the boat greatly, 
but ^¥0uld not make it perfect by any means. 
Third — The Eureka boat when knocked down and 
folded makes the meanest pack that was ever placed upon 
the back of that much abused and vituperated animal, the 
western broncho. 
What I am looking for is a canvas folding boat that 
is as staunch, strong, rigid, seaworthy and serviceable as 
the Eureka, but which is well detailed throughout, which 
is easily and quickly set up, knocked down, and folded 
for travel, and which makes a convenient pack for placing 
on a horse. It should be large enough to carry safely and 
comfortably two men with a full camping outfit such as. 
an experienced sportsman would provide for a long trip 
by boat, provisions for ten days, and all the fishing and 
shooting paraphernalia for two persons. The weight 
should be such that one man can readily carry the empty 
boat, and the price should be reasonable. The matter of 
facility of repairs should not be overlooked, and the pro- 
tection of the boat when being shipped as baggage should 
receive due attention. 
I would consider it a favor if some of your readers 
who have used portable boats would write you, describing 
their crafts in detail, giving all main dimensions, weight, 
etc., and pointing out both their good and their' bad fea- 
tures ; and .1 would be pleased to receive from the manu- 
facturers^ of ' portable boats their catalogues and all ths 
information necessary for a possible purchaser. My acV 
dress is New Nelson Building, Kansas City, Mo. 
J. A, L. Waddeu. 
