July 2, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
11 
Thef Jewfish [in Vit ginia. 
St. Louis, June 23. — On August 18, 1903, Captain 
Payne caught in a pound net at Virginia Beach a jew- 
fish, a fish which has not previously been recorded in 
Virginia waters. The fish is not uncommon on the 
Florida coast, and inhabits both coasts of tropical Amer- 
ica from Florida and the Gulf of California southward 
to Brazil. 
Another name for this species is Giiasa, by which it is 
known in Cuba and other parts of the West Indies. The 
jewfish, or spotted jewfish, sometimes attains to a length 
of six feet, and is said to weigh as high as 400 pounds. 
It takes the hook readily, but is not noted for game 
qualities, and is not especially good to eat. 
Mr. J. Lyman Babcock, who is in charge of the Vir- 
ginia Fish and Game exhibit in the Forestry and Fish 
and Game Palace at the Universal Exposition, was in- 
formed by the fishermen that this fish is a kind of sea 
bass; so it is, in so far as it belongs to the sea bass 
family, but it is a giant in comparison with its family re- 
. lations. The jewfish is a great deal more akin to the 
groupers than it is to the sea bass proper. It frequents 
the vicinity of rocks, and takes the hook very freely. The 
angler who takes a jewfish makes a great catch, although 
it can scarcely be said . to offer much more excitement 
than a big codfish. 
It seems rather singular that the recorded range of this 
fish should be amended as one result of the great Exposi- 
tion ; but the Virginia coast will doubtless furnish further 
surprises to the naturalist who will carefully examine 
its shores. Tarleton H. Bean. 
A Fish Like a Dead Leaf. 
In a recent number of a periodical devoted to Ceylon 
and its environs, attention is called to a remarkable in- 
stance of protective mimicry in a Ceylon fish, known as 
sea bat (Platax vespertilio) , which resembles a dead and 
decayed leaf. Dr. Willey, who records this example, had 
already had his attention directed to the matter by a cor- 
respondent, and subsequently saw with his own eyes an 
example of it. ' 
He says : "I was walking along the reef in the com- 
pany of a fisherman carrying a net, when he espied a 
small fish which he attempted to catch for me. I could 
not see what it was at first, but noticed that the man 
failed to bag it after several ineffectual attempts. The 
fish did not swim far away from the spot, but dodged 
about, baffling its pursuer. I approached and seized the 
net, whereupon I saw a yellow jak leaf gently and in- 
ertly sinking to the bottom. This is no unusual sight, 
and I was about to turn away, when the leaf righted 
itself and darted off. Efforts were redoubled, and the 
fish secured and sketched." 
Dr. Willey adds : "When a fish has a leaf-shaped and 
leaf-colored body, and in addition the unique habit of 
toppling over and feigning death when pursued, it seems 
natural to conclude that it is a genuine example of pro- 
tective resemblance." 
To Keep Camp Provisions from Flies, 
New York. — Editor Forest and Stream: In Mr. Mar- 
tin Hunter's very instructive contribution to Forest and 
Stream for June 25, he speaks of keeping "blue flies" 
away from meat and fish by means of coverings of birch 
bark. By "blue flies" he probably means what we com- 
monly call "blow flies," and if blue is past tense for blow, 
the flies. will never get that far if the camper is aware of 
the little trick of suspending things about twenty feet 
above the ground. A very small block and tackle in one's 
outfit weighs only a few ounces, and this, carried up into 
the branches of any convenient tree, will serve to run 
even a saddle of venison above the level of fly-line, which 
seems to be about as definite a thing as timber-line. My 
old guide, Caribou Charley, made twenty feet his rule, 
but last summer I experimented with a series of lake 
trout, hung at distances varying from the ground level 
to twenty feet above, and found that the flies much pre- 
ferred the ground level, gradually tapering in abundance 
up to about seven feet, and not a fly at ten feet. This was 
in Maine. There may be localities in which other species 
of flies will be less accommodating. 
Sometimes when trees were not near camp, we have 
sunk meat and fish under water, in order to keep flies 
away, but the flavor usually ran down stream pretty fast. 
Robert T. Morris. 
"Where the Maple Bends. 
The two views of the Maple River are from photo- 
graphs which are sent to us by Mr. C. L. Lockwood, who 
is the General Passenger Agent of the Grand Rapids and 
Indiana Railway. We print the pictures simply to expose 
Mr. Lockwood's nefarious business, which is to separate 
husbands and fathers from their families, and send them 
packing off to the wilds of Michigan, where the Maple 
bends, and where several and sundry other trout and bass 
and grayling waters hold them in captivity. It may be 
that though our single purpose is to hold up to the light 
of day and the censure of mankind these business methods 
of Mr. Lockwood, our good intention may largely defeat 
itself, since it is just like a fisherman, when he sees a 
fishing picture of this kind, incontinently to desert his 
family and take to the woods. To do Mr. Lockwood 
justice, however, we may add that he rather encourages 
anglers to take wives and sisters along on these Michigan 
outings. In fact, the more the rest of the family sees of 
the pictured charms of Michigan, the less inclined are 
they to let the head of the house go off without them. 
To Do the Carp Try Seals. 
San Francisco, Cal. — Your correspondent in a recent 
issue who seems rather to lament the fact that it is un- 
lawful to take carp with seine or spear, may console him- 
self with the reflection that even though it were not un- 
lawful, he could accomplish little or nothing to rid his 
ponds and streams of the nuisance by those means. 
Some years ago our water company got the carp fever, 
and put a lot of them into one of the lakes to purify (?) 
the water. They throve amazingly, and grew to enor- 
mous sijse. Then it was discovered that they were be- 
coming a great nuisance, and people were allowed to fish 
for them, only to find that they wouldn't be caught. 
Some Italian fishermen were invited to take them out 
with their big nets, and, I think, tried it once. The 
next time they were invited they had to be paid to come. 
Then we got a net ourselves and fished vigorously, only 
to find that after the first one or two hauls we caught 
nothing, for as soon as the net got into shallow water 
and the carp couldn't get under it, they went out over it 
in shoals, and that idea had to be abandoned. Mean- 
time they rooted around on the bottom of the lake like 
a drove of pigs, and kept the water constantly stirred up, 
so something had to be done. We next tried seals, which 
were caught outside the harbor and brought in, until we 
had of seals and sea-lions, I think, at one time nineteen. 
The seals seemed perfectly comfortable in the fresh 
water, and two little chaps born there throve and grew 
as well as any seals, and became quite tame. 
In the 1 course of time they cleared the lake out so 
completely that they were in danger of starvation, so 
some were assisted to escape to the ocean, while the 
larger ones had to be shot. Now the carp are getting 
bad again, and a net seems just as useless as ever, but 
the keeper has an idea (don't know how much truth 
there may be in it) that the black bass in the lake are 
keeping the carp from increasing in numbers by eating all 
the small fry, and that the carp which are stirring up the 
mud are survivors of the last generation who escaped the 
seals — perhaps on account of their small size — and have 
since grown up, as all the fish that he has been able to 
drive into shallow water were large — but they went over 
the top of the net in the same old style. *** 
Massachusetts Black Bass. 
Massachusetts has repealed the law making a close 
season on black bass. The only law applying to black 
bass is contained in Sec. 70, Chap. 91, of the Revised 
Laws, which prohibits the. taking, selling or having in 
possession, "with intent to sell, a black bass less than 
eight inches in length." . 
A well informed Boston correspondent writes us : 
"So far as I have met the people in visiting various 
towns and cities, the repeal of the act above cited has met 
with much objection. Those interested claim they knew 
nothing of what was being done, despite the advertisement 
of the bill, and keenly regret what has been done. If 
what has been said is any indication of a general feeling 
of dissatisfaction, then it is safe to assume that an at- 
tempt will be made next session of the Legislature to 
secure the re-enactment of protective laws for black 
bass." 
Four Fish with One Hook. 
Buffalo, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: A friend 
of mine has just told me of a funny incident which came 
under his notice while he was fishing at Black Rock 
yesterday for pike perch. He was fishing from the bank, 
and below him was some old fellow in a boat, who had 
been fishing in poor luck and had not caught a fish. He 
lost a hook on something which it caught in and then 
put on a new one. After a while he thought he had a 
bite, and put the strain on the pole, which was a cane 
one. When his hook reached the surface he found he 
was caught to a small rope. He took hold of the rope 
and pulled in a "squat" net, which had four blue pike in 
it, thus catching four fish while using only one hook. 
Dixmont. 
Man Had No Hand in It. 
Consul Benj. H. Ridgely writes from Nantes, France ; 
"During the years 1902 and 1903 there was an almost 
complete failure of the French sardine catch, an industry 
of which the center of trade is Nantes. It now seems 
certain that the absence of sardines last year and the 
year before was due solely to the cold and boisterous 
spring. This spring, which has been a normal one up to 
date, finds the smaller variety of the famous little fish 
already on hand in abundance, and the packers look for- 
ward to an excellent catch." 
This is only another instance of a fluctuating fish sup- 
ply in which man had no part; it goes with the bluefish 
and mackerel ups and downs. 
Good Fishing- at Lake Dunmor e, Vt. 
Boston, June 23. — Editor Forest and Stream: The 
fishing in Lake Dunmore is very good at- present. A 
party of six spent three days at my cottage recently, and 
in the three days we caught 24 pickerel and bass, aver- 
aging 4 pounds apiece. The party consisted of Mr. and 
Mrs. Eldric Eldridge, of Jamaica Plain; Mr. and Mrs. 
Hunt, of Lexington; and Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Stevens, 
Lexington, Mass. E. C. S. 
How Do You Preserve Minnows? 
Toledo, O., June 17. — Editor Forest and Stream: Can 
any of the readers of "our paper" give a practical and 
effective method of preserving minnows which will not 
interfere with their subsequent use for bait? Salted 
minnows are apt to become too hard and brittle, and. 
while those on the market are good as far as they go, 
they do not go far enough. Then it occasionally hap- 
pens in the fishing country that we have a surfeit of live 
minnows at times, but none at all at others. Sugges- 
tions thankfully received. Jay Beebe. 
, _ Death of Vaughan Snider. 
We regret to learn of the death of Vaughan Snider, 
editor of The Amateur Sportsman, and secretary of the 
M. T. Richardson Company, at his residence, this city, 
Sunday morning, June 19, after a short illness. Mr. 
Snider was born in Philadelphia, November 21, 1858. 
In his youth he learned the trade of a printer, and later 
occupied a position on the Crockery and Glass Journal. 
He was for several years foreman of the printing house 
of Gibb Brothers & Moran. He became editor of The 
Amateur Sportsman when that journal was purchased 
some years ago by the M. T. Richardson Company, and 
retained this position until his death. 
h Adirondack Fishing. 
Blue Mountain Lake, New York, June 21.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: Your readers may be interested in 
hearing of Adirondack conditions, so I will speak of 
those things on which I am informed. Trout fishing in 
the streams and ponds has been unusually good. The 
leading merchant here tells me he never saw so many 
trout for sale as this spring. Many parties have been 
to one pond a few miles away, where brook trout abound 
—the average size being about % pound— and it is esti- 
mated that 700 pounds or over have been taken there. 
No very large fish are reported so far. Juvenal. 
Cathance Lake. 
Cooper, Maine, June 21.— At Cathance Lake this week, 
Mr R A. Roach and J. F. Harrington, of Boston, Mass., 
landed seven salmon that weighed 21^ pounds, and 
eleven trout that ran from ]/ 2 to 3 pounds, and one that 
weighed 4% pounds. Senator Mclsaac, of South Boston, 
got a good string of trout and salmon, one salmon weigh- 
ing 5 pounds. Mr. Morgan, of Pembroke, had very good 
luck; he landed three trout that weighed 10^ pounds 
and two salmon 3^ and 4 pounds each. 
Thomas Deerey. 
In Newfoundland. 
• ^ h F - Br °wn, of this city, has gone salmon fishing 
in Newfoundland. 
Mr. H. O. Wilbur, of Philadelphia, is spending his 
vacation on Newfoundland streams. 
British Columbia Salmon. 
The Dominion Government has ordered that "the ex- 
port for the purpose of canning or manufacture of fresh 
salmon captured in trap nets in the waters of British 
Columbia shall be prohibted." 
Ever Tested It? 
When the wind is in the north, 
The skillful fisher goes not forth; 
When the wind is in the east, 
'Tis good for neither man nor beast; 
When the wind is in the south, 
It blows the flies in the fish's mouth; 
When the wind is in the west, 
Then it is the very best. 
100 Sportsmen's finds. 
Some of the Queer Discoveries Made by Those Who Are 
Looking for Game or Fish. 
97 
Wonderful- stories are often related of the loss of 
precious articles and their marvelous recovery such a' 
the dropping of a watch overboard while fishing,' and later 
!-w7 mg < fr -° m th f St0mach of a P ike ; dissecting gold 
i.ngs from the inwards of trout which snapped the glitter- 
teftri Y l h ? °U \ re ;L C - hed , b0tt ° m; diggin ^ a set 
teeth lost when bathing, from the stomach of a catfish 
etc. But truth is stranger than fiction. Anybody who will 
can he but here is a true story of James H. Prentiss, of 
Ann Arbor, who while fishing at Zukey Lake lost the $200 
setting to his diamond ring. Hoping that the glitter might 
have attracted a bite from a pickerel, which grabs greedily 
for a flashing spoonhook, every fish caught was carefully 
dissected, and Prentiss had just about given up hope of 
beholding his $200 sparkler again, when, as the last fish 
had been ripped up the front, behanged if the gem warn't 
found wedged between two boards in the bottom of the 
boat. — Detroit Tribune. 
Dog's Return Journey. 
A remarkable instance of a dog's love of home is re- 
ported from Cromlegh, Dunblane, Perthshire. A collie 
dog was given' to Mr.. Hunter of Herriotshall, Berwick- 
shire, by his brother-.n-law, Mr. Gilholm, of Cromlegh 
and was sent by tram to the borderland. The animal 
T/h am ° n 2 the , shee P for two days, and then suddenly 
disappeared. It afterwards turned up at its old home 
Lond n o g n d TdeSpn CTenty miICS ' ^ » f ° rty hou -- 
The Out-of-Doors Mao. 
Give me a boat, a rod and a gun 
When summer days are long, 
Up where the 'creek comes winding down, 
And you may have your life in town, 
Your women, wine and song. 
Give me a lonely, wooded walk, 
Where feet have seldom trod, 
And you may have your boulevards, 
Cut paths and artificial yards 
Laid out by rule and rod. 
Give me an open blazing hearth, 
A kitchen low and long; 
A good. old country dinner rare, 
And you may have your hotel fare, 
With its dyspeptic throng. 
Give me a hard and horny grasp, 
An honest, fearless eye, 
A skin that's rough and weather-tanned, 
And you may have the limpid hand 
Of aristocracy. 
—Joe Cone in the New York Sun. 
All communications for Forest and Stream must bf 
directed to Forest and Stream Pub. Co., New YorU, i* 
receive attention. We hm/e no other e$ff#. 
