446 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Nov. 26, 1904. 
evening as we were returning to camp, and were follow- 
ing along the Spencer Stream, we heard a grouse drum- 
ming near us. I was very much pleased to find the 
Canada grouse — "spruce partridge" — rather plentiful in 
the Dead River region. We saw them nearly every day 
during our stay. I was very glad to learn from our 
guide, Alvah J. Dumphy, that very- few sportsmen ever 
shoot them. They are exceedingly tame there, and will fly 
up to a low branch of a spruce and sit and look at a per- 
son as unconcerned as can be. We found them usually in 
the dense spruce bushes in some solitary out-of-the-way 
place not far back from the river. The ruffed grouse 
were very plenty and very tame there. While hunting- 
deer, we came upon flocks of them; they would hop up 
on a log or a low limb and look at us, showing very lit- 
tle signs of fear. 
Beaver In Maine. 
Having digressed from my subject, I will mention the 
quantities of beaver and their signs we saw in that region. 
I had not supposed there was a place in Maine where 
they were so plenty. We examined seven or eight 
dams, which are very interesting and ingenious contri- 
vances. We saw several houses and many poplar trees 
which they had gnawed down along the banks of the river, 
felling them into the river and cutting the trunks up into 
sections and floating them to a place near their houses 
and sinking them. I measured trees they had felled that 
were 16 inches at the base where they had gnawed them 
off. One evening while in camp we had a discussion as to 
how the beaver contrive to sink their logs after cutting 
them off. Our guide gave his theory, and I would like to 
hear through these columns from those who have had op- 
portunity to observe along these lines. It would doubtless 
interest other readers. 
It is an interesting experience to float down the river 
noiselessly in a canoe on a clear, cold, moonlight night, 
and as one rounds a bend in the river catch sight of a 
beaver. Flap goes his broad, flat tail, splattering the water 
high in air and making a noise that sounds as though 
someone from the bank had thrown a large rock into the 
water ahead of one. I shall long remember one such 
evening, when, with a hunting companion and our guide, 
as we silently paddled our canoe down the river from 
Long Falls to the dam; it was a clear, sharp, moonlight 
night, and every now and then could be seen a muskrat 
swimming along ahead of us. Several beaver were sighted, 
and as the first one that we came up to splashed the_ water 
ahead of us, my companion started and said, "Tho't it was 
someone on the bank who threw a rock into the river 
ahead." We occasionally heard the hooting of an owl 
above the sound of the rushing water above us on Long 
Falls, locally called "The Hulling Machine," from the fact 
that when the logs go over the rapids in the spring the 
logs having the bark on come out below with the bark 
well peeled off. Below us was heard the dull roar of the 
Grand Falls below the dam. 
We occasionally startled deer on either bank as they 
were coming down to the water's edge to drink. Big 
game we found very plentiful, frequently seeing signs of 
moose. One large bull was shot near our camp while we 
were there, and one of our party fired at one but did not 
bring him down. Deer were very plentiful. We brought 
out a large 10-point buck which dressed 211 pounds. 
Canada jays were numerous, and so were pileated and 
northern' hairy woodpeckers. J. Merton Swain. 
Whitefield, N. H., Nov. 14.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have been in the woods a greater part of the 
time for many years, and there has been no autumn that 
I have not heard partridges drum. During the present 
autumn I heard them nearly every sunny day during Sep- 
tember and October. I have always found it to be the old 
bird, but perhaps the young one may drum ; but I cannot 
call to mind a case of seeing one. As to the wings strik- 
ing the body, I will state the facts as I have seen them 
many times by watching the bird. I have seen drumming 
birds from all points— front, side, and rear— and they all 
seem to be in the same position and to perform the same 
movements. _ 
The partridge selects a large log, though I have seen 
him choose a rock ; and after finding one to his liking, 
generally occupies it day after day, though I have known 
of them shifting their location a number of times m a 
single hour, contrary to the general rule. 
In the act of drumming, a partridge stands nearly it 
not quite erect, with his wings at right angles to his body, 
the first movements being quite slow, but the last so fast 
that the motion of the wings cannot be followed with the 
eye - but at no time do the wings come m contact with the 
log,' and by being extended it is impossible for them to 
hit his body; neither can they come in contact with each 
other, unless it be the extreme tips; therefore the drum- 
mine- must be caused by the motion of the wings through 
the air. W. H. Young. 
for drumming, with my heart beating- so loud it seemed 
to me the bird must hear it. Well, at last he raised him- 
self on his toes, with wings extended and brought to- 
gether over his back, with a spring or spasmodic snap 
just before the backs or. butts touch, giving the whack or 
drum beat. This was done slowly three or four times, 
and then running into a rapid succession of strokes like 
the roll of the tenor drum, or nearly indescribable. Many 
times since I have seen the domestic cock, just before 
crowing, beat his wings together over his back three or 
four times in the same manner as this partridge ; but in- 
stead of giving the rapid beats for a final, he would crow. 
Partridges drum in the fall, but with nothing like the 
frequency or regularity of spring. Geo. Davis. 
East Montpelier, Vt., Nov. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: While the talk is on about the habits and drum- 
ming of partridges or grouse, I will fold my vote and 
hand it in. Men are not plenty who ever saw a partridge 
drumming near enough and with clear light to tell exactly 
ho wtheir wings went to produce the drumming sound. 
Many years ago, when a boy, I was fishing for brook 
trout; not with rod and reel, but with a pole cut on the 
bank of the brook and thrown away when the crotched 
limb to carry the trout was full. The brook in which I 
was fishing run over stones and rocks through a deep 
«ully or ravine, with a dense growth of spruce and hem- 
fock up the sides. All of a sudden 1 heard the drum of a 
partridge wonderfully near. Instantly I forgot fishing. 
No still-hunter for big game ever approached more 
stealthily than I did that partridge. Stepping lightly on 
the stones in the brook so as not to snap a twig, and 
moving slowly, I gained little by little, when bang! an- 
other drum, and so near I dropped on my hands and teet 
and crept forward with renewed caution, occasionally 
rising enough to peek over the bank through the under- 
growth, when whack ! whack ! whack ! buzz ! another 
drumming. This time I located the bird exactly, only I 
rould not see him distinctly. I moved a little under the 
bank and risked an eye over; saw enough to know that if 
I could move a foot or so more it would bring him be- 
tween me and a clear space through the tree tops at the 
top ridge. This done, I waited for the supreme moment 
Hoquiam, Wash., Nov. 2. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Ruffed grouse do drum in the fall, as I have had ample 
chance to observe in -over forty years of my life that I 
have lived in or near the woods. As to whether both old 
and young drum, I never had that phase of the subject 
presented to me before, much to my regret, for I have 
had ample opportunity to learn the facts in the case, and 
if a chance should again occur I will try to improve it. 
Further, when he (for it is only the male that drums) 
drums, he strikes in front, his wings not touching the log 
on ' which he stands. I have watched one drum for the 
space of an hour, when there had been a flurry of snow — 
as often happens in some sections of the country inhabited 
by grouse — and his wings left no marks in the snow, which 
they would have done if he had struck the log. This ob- 
servation was made to prove whether or no an article that 
I had read in a newspaper was correct. The article stated 
that the bird struck the log on which he stood, and that 
it was invariably a hollow one, and that the sound pro- 
duced was on the principle of the drum. What first 
started me to doubt the correctness of the statement was 
that I never had known a bird to select a hollow log for 
that use. 
About his striking his breast, the motion is so quick 
that it is difficult to decide whether he beats his breast or 
strikes his wings together in front of him. Some of my 
observations were made in New York State, others in 
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; the one where the 
snow was on the log was in the latter State. The snow 
had fallen the night before, and there were no other 
tracks in it except those made by the bird that I saw 
drum, so there was no chance for me to be misled about 
it. W. A. Li n k letter. 
Buffalo, N. Y., Nov. 17. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your issue of November 12, R. D. quotes Audubon 
and Mr. John Black quotes Nuttall as authority that a 
drumming grouse does strike his . sides with his wings. 
The Old Angler says that they do not, and I will quote 
an authority to bear him out. I see by L. F. Brown's arti- 
cle on sleeping ducks in the issue of November 19 that 
he says Mr. Elliott "is the present real authority on our 
wildfowl," and he ought to be just as trustworthy in his 
observations of grouse. In "Game Birds of North 
America," Mr. Elliott says : "The male grouse drums at 
all times in the year : in the spring as a defiance to his 
rivals or as a call to the hens to come and admire him as 
he struts in magnificent form upon his chosen log; and 
in summer and autumn, or even winter, as an indication 
of his lusty vigor and general satisfaction with himself. 
The sound heard on these occasions is like a deep muffled 
roll of a drum, even likened by some persons to low 
thunder, and has a great ventriloquial power. It is pro- 
duced solely by the wings, and these are not permitted to 
touch the body * * * sudenly he throws his body for- 
ward and stretches out his neck and commences to beat the 
air with his wings, but does not touch his flanks." 
Now, I think that Mr. Elliott's opinion on a question of 
this kind is of more value than that of Audubon, for the 
reason that this is a question which has been much dis- 
cussed during the past fifty years, and Mr. Elliott must 
be very sure of his position, as he mentions the fact twice 
that the grouse does not strike his body with the wings. 
On the other hand, I should suppose that Mr. Audubon 
probably settled this for himself without much stress be- 
ing laid on the point as to whether the wings really did 
come in' contact with the flanks or not. Dixmont. 
The Government's Importation of 
Camels* 
From the Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry. 
BY CHARLES C. CARROLL, A. M. 
No experiments were made to ascertain how long 
the camels could go without water, and the information 
gained by the investigations of the expedition show that 
the tales on this subject are largely fables. The camel 
needs water each day, and gets along best when so 
supplied. He has a set of several stomachs, m one 
at least of which are cells where water is stored to the 
extent of about a gallon and a half, and this can be 
drawn upon when the animal does not get his daily supply. 
Habituated to traveling across the deserts, he has 
through centuries developed the power of going from 
five to eight days without a drink, and nature has as- 
sisted him by giving him a skin so constructed that he 
perspires very scantily. But there is nothing in his sup- 
posed habit of drinking vast quantities of water and 
concealing it about his body for use in emergencies. 
His hump does, indeed, supply him with nourishment 
when at work where food is scarce, this being very well 
shown by the fact that during a long, hard trip this 
unsightly protuberance gradually decreases in size, so 
that it is necessary to change the length of the packing 
thongs accordingly, until at the end of the trip the 
hump has almost entirely disappeared. The substance 
of the hump is pure fat. After a course of high hying 
without work, the hump so increases in size that it js 
awkward to place a saddle on the animal. It is said 
to be customery then to slit the skin, lay it back, and 
cut off slices of fat. This fat has somewhat the ap- 
pearance of thick cream and was said to be much es- 
teemed by the Arabs, who use it in tea and coffee, but 
our investigators had no opportunity of testing it. 
The strict regulation against wetting the camel deck 
was necessary, because the camel can travel over,any 
kind of surface except one that is slippery. In Asia 
Minor, Syria, Persia, North Hindoostan, and Tartary 
he travels loaded across valleys and mountain ranges 
and desert alike, exhibiting no hesitancy except wnen 
he encounters ice or mud. Here he loses control of 
himself, spreads his legs wide apart, and if not helped 
generally ends by the dislocation of shoulders or hips 
or by literally splitting himself up, an injur}'' which is 
always fatal. 
Six Arabs, one of them a Bedouin of the desert, were 
engaged to go along with the ship, with the idea that 
they would be useful in caring for the animals, but they 
proved helpless in bad weather, and their services were 
unnecessary in good weather. A Turk was also em- 
ployed because he represented himself to be a "camel 
M.D.," perfectly familiar with the management of 
camels, their disease and treatment. This gentleman 
turned out to be an Oriental Sangrado. His cure for 
a cold was a piece of cheese; for swelled legs, tea mixed 
with gun powder; and for some further trifling com- 
plaint he gravely proposed to tickle the animal's nose 
with a chameleon's tail. He was soon set aside by the 
common sense of Lieutenant Porter. In giving birth, 
one of the camels died, this being attributed to an 
injury received in loading. Two young ones, born soon 
after leaving Smyrna, were so much treated by the 
camel doctor that they also died; four others born dur- 
ing the voyage were kept out of his hands and would 
have come on very well, but one was starved because 
the mother could not be induced to rise and suckle 'it 
during a ten days' storm; another was accidentally lain 
on by an old camel and crushed. The other two were 
successfully reared, and, having the run of the camel 
deck, amused the whole ship by their friskiness and 
precocity; they were thoroughly at home in the worst 
of weather, perfectly steady on their legs, going about 
the deck without falling during gales that forced even 
the sailors to hold on to some support. Such remark- 
able seamanship was attributed to the fact that they 
were born at sea. 
The show animals of the lot were two handsome 
dromedaries — one a Nomanieh from Oman, the other 
a Sennai from Nubia. Of all dromedaries the swiftest 
and most enduring in the Nomanieh, as it is also the 
best for riding, its natural gait being a movement of 
the hind leg and foreleg on opposite sides at the same 
time, or a movement of each leg in rapid succession. 
This gait must be taught to other breeds, as they nat- 
urally move in a rough trot. A good Nomanieh can 
travel from 90 to 100 miles a day, but cannot keep such 
traveling up day after day. From fifteen to twenty 
days he can keep up a gait of 50 to 60 miles a day. 
Many stories are, of course, related of feats of en- 
durance and speed, but these are to be taken with 
allowance. Our explorers found that the mail was 
regularly carried between Cairo and Suez on a camel. 
The distance is eighty-four miles and was covered in 
eighteen hours. The burden camel usually carries from 
250 to 400 pounds, and travels regularly from 20 to 30 
miles a day. 
In the cargo were four Pehlevans — camels which had 
been taught to wrestle, a sport which is common in 
the East. It seems that without any training at all the 
animals engage in contests which are a sort of wrest- 
ling bouts. Whenever two males meet for the first 
time, especially if there are any females about, an en- 
counter of this kind is indulged in. The camel that is 
thrown to the ground acknowledges his inferiority by 
scarcely daring thenceforth to look at the females. 
This natural propensity is cultivated by the Arabs and 
Turks, and the young camel is taught to wrestle, with 
some degree of science, by hoisting the right foreleg 
over thcneck of his antagonist and coming down upon 
him, with all the weight of the body. One of the Arabs 
employed by. Major Wayne amused himself on the 
voyage by training "Uncle Sam," a month-old camel, 
to wrestle, a pastime at which he soon became so pro- 
ficient and which he liked so well that it was found 
necessary to tie him up, as he developed the trick of 
making sudden rushes at the men and throwing them 
to the deck. 
It was in the midst of the rutting season when the 
animals were taken on board at Smyrna. At this 
period both sexes are cross and disposed to kick and 
bite. "The camel's kick is soft," says the Arab pro- 
verb, "but it takes life away;" its bite is not less terrible, 
as its heavy jaws and the leverage of its long neck 
enable it to pull and tear with great force. The females 
were exposed to the males constantly at this period 
with the purpose of securing as many young as possible 
at the earliest time. Except at this season, the camels 
were found, as a rule, docile and well behaved. The 
animal's patience is sometimes strained beyond endur- 
ance by the brutality of its drivers; at such times it 
displays some cunning in waiting until the man is 
well within its power, when it takes summary vengeance. 
It appears to believe, however, with the American Con- 
stitution, that no man should be put in jeopardy twice 
for the same offense ; and the driver who has mistreated 
a camel will place some part of his clothing where the 
beast will find it; and, after trampling and tearing the 
offender's coat, the camel is well satisfied and harbors 
no further grudge. When it does become necessary to 
discipline the beast, our experimenters were cautioned 
that the punishment must be severe; they were in- 
structed to take a heavy club flattened at tne end and 
with this to strike the animal with great force on the 
left side of the neck and six inches back of the Jaw 
and to keep up the beating until the refractory animal 
rolled on the ground in sign of submission. 
Mr. Albert Ray, the keeper of the camels, who per- 
formed his work with sagacity and zeal, does not ap- 
pear to have made any warm friendship among the 
animals, although they were individually named and 
kept track of in his journal, in the picturesque nomen- 
clature of the Orient, as Gournal, Adela, Mahomet, 
Massandra, Ibrim, Ayesha, and so on. Such friendships 
are common enough, however, among the Arabs, as 
the camel, when well treated, is inclined to become at- 
tached to his master, though perhaps to a lesser de- 
gree than the dog or horse. 
By his intelligent and energetic care, Lieutenant 
Porter thus kept his charges in excellent health, and 
landed safely at Indianola, Tex., May 14, 1856, thirty- 
four camels (a gain of one on the voyage), ajl ap« 
