498 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June ]8, 1904. 
;PORT§nAN TOURIST 
Duck Hunting Among the Moros. 
It had been raining like the mischief for three weeks, 
v/hich had brought us, besides a great deal of discom- 
fort, an actual shortage of food. "Government straight" — 
namely, hardtack, coffee, and bacon — had been the bill of 
fare daily for I don't know how long, and none too much 
of that even. 
We were camped — a battalion of infantry, two troops 
of cavalry, and a '"mule battery" — way up on a bluff over- 
looking Lake Lanao, the so-called sacred lake of the 
Moros, in the mountains of Mindanao, which is, next to 
Luzon, the largest island in the Phi%^ine group. It was 
twenty-three miles, by the meanest kind of a trail, to the 
coast, and we had been there for about three months, 
fighting with and making speeches to the natives in about 
equal parts. 
It had, as I say, been pouring, as it only can pour in 
the tropics, for almost three weeks, and the day before 
had introduced a cyclone feature to the performance 
which had blown down every tent in camp, and would 
have carried our few household effects over into the next 
county had there been such a thing in that part of the 
world. 
Taking advantage of a temporary cessation of hostili- 
ties on the part of the elements, a dozen or so of us were 
sitting in front of the commanding officer's tent getting a 
breath of fresh air and recounting our experiences in 
the late hurricane, when from nowhere apparently there 
appeared on the scene a Moro, naked as the day he was 
bom, except for a breech clout and turban, in whom we 
recognized one of Datto Grande's men. Datto Grande, be 
it known, so called from his immense size, which dis- 
tinguished him from the rest of the Moros, who, as a 
rule, are "pony built," was one of the most powerful and 
influential chieftains about the lake, and a staunch friend 
of the Americans. So we welcomed his messenger with 
many expressions of "Mopear," which ' is Moro for 
"Howdy," and asked him, in our best Castilian, how they 
had come through the tornado of the day before. The 
messenger only smiled and shook his head to signify that 
he did not understand our Spanish, for which small blame 
to him, and taking a piece of paper from the folds of his 
turban, handed it to the Major. Upon being translated 
the note, for such it proved to be, we found was from 
Grande, asking that a doctor be sent down to his house, 
about six miles below camp, to treat his little son, who 
was very ill. Of course his request was granted, and 
presently the doctor and an escort of half a dozen cavalry- 
men were trotting along the trail, cursing the fate which 
sent them out in such weather, but at the same time rather 
glad of a break in the monotony of being cooped up in 
camp as they had been for the past fortnight. 
The next morning I met the doctor, who had returned 
some time in the night, and asked him how the boy was, 
and learned, much to my regret, that the little fellow had 
died just before they arrived. "But," said the doctor, 
"good Lord, Cap, you ought to see the ducks down near 
Grande's place. There is a slough there with ten million 
in it if there's one." 
"What kind of ducks?" said I, for it had never before 
occurred to me to connect the festive Moro with anything 
half so peaceful as duck farming. 
"Lord," said he, "I don't know what kind they are, 
'cause I couldn't get near enough to them to find out." 
"No," said I, "I mean are they wild or tame." 
"Oh, they're wild, all right," answered Doc, "and I 
wish I had had a shotgun; I surely would have had a 
change of chaw " from this eternal bacon and hardtack, 
hardtack and bacon we've been up against for the last 
month. I'm getting homesick for a piece of real meat." 
Now, years ago I formed the habit of never going any- 
where, if it was only to stay over night, without sneak- 
ing my good old 12-gauge Parker along in the bottom 
of my trunk. Furthermore, due partly to this habit, and 
partly to the fact that there is nothing in the world quite 
so handy in a "halo rush" as a shotgun and some buck- 
shot, it was right there at that minute. Not in the bottom 
of my trunk, it is true, for we had no trunks with us, 
but wrapped up in the canvas of my bedding roll, together 
with about a hundred No. 6's I had brought along on the 
off chance of findin* something on which to use them. 
I told the doctor I had a shotgun with me, and suggested 
that we make up a party and go down there the next day 
to see what we could do toward relieving the stringency 
for fresh meat that existed in the community. 
Upon inquiry we found there were two other shstguns 
in camp, and about two hundred more shells suitable to 
the occasion; so the next afternoon Kirk, the Doctor, the 
Lieutenant and myself, with an escort of fifteen men from 
Kirk's troop, started off in high spirits to try our first 
chance at game since we had been on the island. Up to 
this time we had been too busy hunting men to bother 
w"th anything else; and, just between ourselves, once in 
hile having the tables turned, and being hunted, 
e trail forked a little way beyond camp, and Doc, 
ad gone along to show us the way, took the wrong 
't discovered his mistake before we had gone very 
*■ least became uncertain whether -yve were on the 
" or not; so I sent a man back to camp to ask - 
ho had come in that mofnirig to get some 
anything else he eould talk the eommandinf 
officer out of, for his son's funeral ceremonies, to send 
us one of his people to act as guide. Our messenger had 
hardly gotten well started, before he met Grande himself, 
with his retinue, coming along on his way home, and as 
we saw them about the same time, we rode cross lots and 
joined them. 
About a quarter of a mile from where we joined Grande 
and his followers, we flushed a pair of doves in the edge 
of a rice stubble. Kirk, not being able to withstand the 
temptation, jumped off his horse and started for them. 
Just as he flushed them, Grande, who was riding, jumped 
cff his pony and shouting something in a very excited man- 
ner to his men, drew his kris and went charging toward 
an old Moro fort which stood near the trail, a little be- 
yond us, and into which the doves had flown. Of course 
we promptly dismounted and formed a skirmish line, for 
in this country you never can tell what's going to happen, 
and it's always best to be prepared for the worst. Noth- 
ing occurred, however, and in a few minutes Grande and 
his men came back. He told us this fort belonged to a 
Moro named Ahmi Gra, who was, he said, "muy malo," 
and very hostile to the Americans. It seemed Ahmi Gra's 
people had some rice fields near this place, and Grand- 
had noticed them working there that morning when he 
had passed on his way to our camp. He was afraid some 
of them had seen us coming, and might be lying in am- 
bush in the fort. As Kirk was going directly toward it, 
Grande feared, if such was the case, they would kill him 
before we could get to him. Hence his action. We made 
a careful search, not only of the fort itself, but of all the 
cover in the vicinity that could conceal a Moro. Not 
finding anything, we mounted once more and started for 
the ducks. We proceeded much more carefully, however, 
and as Grande insisted that this particular part of the 
trail was dangerous, I sent out a small advance party 
and flankers, until we should reach his land, where I 
knew there would be no danger. As we rode along we 
could look way over the valley of the Mataling River 
and see Ahmi Gra's people standing in bunches on the 
tops of the many little hills, or running excitedly from 
one group to another, and the flash of the sun on the 
blades of their krises and campilans as they waved them 
at us, and gave their yells of defiance. Some of the men 
begged for permission to try a shot at about 1,200 yards, 
but orders were strict not to fire unless fired upon, so 
I had to refuse. It was certainly a beautiful view which 
unfolded itself to us as we trotted along, and one I shall 
always remember. The country was rolling and cut up 
by heavily wooded ravines, with the exception of which it 
was, for the most part, open and covered with "cogon," 
a tall grass which often grows higher than a man on 
horseback. It was dotted here and there by groves of 
cocoanut and other palms, and by clumps of bamboo, 
nearly every one of the latter hiding in its heart a fort, 
or cotta, as the Moros call them. In this country every 
Moro of position is his own master, his hand against 
every man, and every man's against him. It is a land 
where "to the victor belong the spoils," just so long as 
he can prevent anyone taking them from him. All the 
Moros of this class then build unto themselves good, 
strong forts of earth and stone, plant bamboo shoots close 
together on the slopes, and live therein, surrounded by 
their warriors, in true feudal style. We had some lovely 
tirnes taking these forts, but they have nothing to do with 
this duck hunt. 
After about half an hour's sharp trot, Grande stuck his 
kris back in his sash and said we were all right, that we 
were on his land, that no one would molest us, and that 
; everything we saw was ours. A little further on he 
said adios, and, leaving us three or four of his men to 
guide us the rest of the way, disappeared up a side trail, 
which was a short cut to his house. A little after he left 
us the trail made a sharp turn to the right, skirting a rice 
: field, and before I knew it I was right in the middle of 
■ a bunch of Moro women, who, much to my surprise and 
, embarrassment, as soon as they saw me, pulled up their 
sarongs, which answer all the purposes of a skirt, and 
covered their faces with them, it apparently making no 
difference how much of the rest of their persons they 
exposed so long as their faces were covered. Of course 
I politely turned my head the other way, and cautioned 
the men to pay no atention to them, and we were soon 
past. The experience was interesting, for these were the 
first wild Moro women I had seen. I was rather surprised 
to see them cover their faces, as the Moro women on the 
coast, except those of the very highest rank, do 
not do it. 
Just after passing these women we descended a very 
steep bank and forded the river, which here is only about 
fifty feet wide, although further down it opens out into 
a very large stream. In climbing up the other side 
through the woods, a snag caught in the pocket of my 
blouse and tore it off, thereby causing me to lose half 
my cartridges, for I didn't notice what had happened 
until later, when we dismounted. I sent a man back on 
the trail to look, but he couldn't find them. Probably 
some Moro had come along behind us and picked them 
up. The Moros will sell their souls for a gun, and any- 
thing else they have for cartridges, so I suppose the one 
who found my shells is still thanking Allah for his great 
goodness in sending him such a piece of luck. 
It strtket me It it taking a. vsr^ long whilt te ftt t© this 
duck pond, but as I write so many incidents connected 
with that^ day pop into my mind, I get off the track. 
Wei], "anyway," as the Irishman says, we got there at 
last, and dismoimting took a survey of the situation. The 
place in which the ducks were supposed to be was a 
slough, partly just plain swamp, and partly overflown 
nee fields. It was about 1,000 yards long and maybe 300 
or a little more wide, crescent-shaped, and entirely sur- 
rounded by low, grass-covered hills. With the excep- 
tion of small patches of open water here and there, the 
entire surface was grown up in grass and lily-pads, mak- 
ing the finest kind of cover for both hunter and hunted. 
The water was anywhere from one to three feet deep, but 
was warm, and as we had already been wet so much 
that ^ we _ had almost become web-footed, anyway, we 
didn't mind another wetting, so waded in. The Doctor 
and three or four of the escort went to one end of the 
pond, and the Lieutenant, taking some men, started for 
the other. Kirk and I, keeping about 100 yards apart, 
siarted in at the center of the convex side of the crescent. 
\yhen we arrived at the pond there wasn't a duck in 
sight, except two or three playing about in some open 
v-ater out in the middle of the slough, but while we were 
puttmg our guns together and getting ready to start, we 
saw several flocks fly^up from the grass, and after circling 
around a while, go down again; so we knew there were 
some ducks in there, anyway, which cheered us up con- 
siderably. I know I could already taste the broiled breast 
of one in anticipation. 
And then the sport that followed. Since that day when- 
ever anyone talks to me about fine duck shooting, I sim- 
ply shake my head and think to myself, "Well, you've got 
to show me." The only trouble with it was that it was 
almost too easy. There were simply thousands of ducks 
in there, and the chances are not one of them had ever 
been shot at before. They just kept flying back and forth, 
now a single, then a flock of six or eight, then a pair, 
and althougii. each and every one of them seemed to know 
just exactly where he wanted to go, and was apparently 
in a big hurry to get there, they came past so close to 
us that, as I say, it was almost too easy to be good sport. 
Kirk and I hadn't waded in twenty feet before the ducks 
began to jump out of the grass all around us, and inside 
of three minutes after getting my feet wet I had eight 
down with about twenty Moros floundering around in the 
grass after them. We waded out some forty or fiftv 
yards from shore, and took our stands, and from then on 
the fun became fast and furious. It was bang ! bang 1 
bang! until our gun barrels got so hot we had to dip 
them in the water so we could hold them, and then do it 
all over again. We were both in exceptionally good 
form, and while neither of us killed straight by any means, 
we came pretty nearly doing so. Our consciences didn't 
trouble us any, for, as we thought of our htmgry com- 
rades back in camp, we felt no scruples in killing all we 
could, knowing that not only would there not he an ounce 
wasted, but that at best, with our limited supply of shelh, 
v/e could do no more than give every one a taste. I wish 
3'ou could have seen the Moros, who, attracted by th-^ 
sound of firing, had gathered from all the houses round 
the neighborhood, and stood there on the bank watching 
us, with their mouths open in astonishment, and their 
eyes sticking out so you could have knocked them off 
with a stick. Every time Kirk or I cut down a duck, they'd 
raise a shout that scared up everything in the slough. 
They still tell tales about it round the lake, and when- 
ever a strange Moro came into camp the friendlies would 
bring him around to my tent to see the old Parker, and 
tell him what a marvelous shot I was. Then, to convince 
him they were telling the truth, they would get me to go 
out and shoot a crow or a white-headed hawk as it flew 
over the camp, so he could see for himself. They had 
never seen a shotgun before, and thought we were using 
a single ball. You may be sure we said nothing -to unde-- 
ceive them, for if there is one thing a Moro admires, it 
is the skillful handling of any weapon, especially a rifle. 
They themselves are miserable shots, not having dis- 
covered the use of the rear sight, and, as a rule, as soon 
as they get a gun knock it off. They say it is of no use, 
and only catches in the brush. 
The ducks we killed were of two kinds — a large variety 
and a smaller one. The former was about the size of our 
black or dusky duck, as we used to find them on the 
Stockport marshes in the old days on the Hudson River, 
and almost identical with it in every way. The latter 
was about as large as a blue-winged teal, but marked like 
a green-wing. I had accurate descriptions of both, but 
have lost the note-book containing them. Both varieties 
had a peculiar whistling note resembling the call of a; 
yellow-leg plover, and, as I have said, I never saw soj 
many ducks in such a small space in my life. 
After about an hour, the birds evidently having come: 
to the conclusion that it was decidedly unhealthy in that: 
particular slough, cea.sed to fly. It was then about half- 
past four, and, as I wanted to go through that strip of; 
hostile country while it was still daylight, I had recalll 
sounded. Upon taking account of stock, we found we^ 
had bagged sixty-five ducks, two doves, and thtee or four 
jacksnipe; this to four guns in about an hour's shooting. 
Kirk and I killed most of the dUcks, the Doctor was 
using a rifle, and the Lbiitenant had preferred tq potter 
»foujii€ tftsr imp«, Wi r^ehed catnp in &bowt an k^^ft 
