Nov. 26, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
447 
parently in really better condition than when taken 
from the sandy wastes of their native deserts. 
After some days of rest the herd was marched_ by 
easy stages to San Antonio, Tex., about 120 miles, 
where Major Wayne set about making arrangements 
to establish a camel ranch and to attempt the breeding 
of the animals. His plans were interfered with by Sec- 
retary Davis, whose idea was to find out first whether 
, or not the animals, in the language of his instructions, 
"were adapted to military service, and could be econ- 
omically and usefully employed therein," although he 
directed that they be given ample time to recover from 
their long voyage. 
Some experimentation along this line was at once 
attempted. Major Wayne reported that, having re- 
moved his camp to Green Valley, 600 miles from San 
Antonio, he one day sent three 6-mule teams, with a 
wagon to each team, and six camels to San Antonio 
for a supply of oats. In going the camels were held 
back to accommodate themselves to the slower pace 
of the mules. Returning, the camels carried 3,648 
pounds of oats, while the wagons brought 1,800 pounds 
each. Thus 3 camels were equal to 6 mules and a 
wagon, and, in addition, the camels came to camp in 
two and one-half days, while the mules were nearly five 
days in performing the journey. 
One day at Indianola Major Wayne, who had been 
greatly annoyed by the skeptical attitude assumed by 
many persons throughout the country, and particularly 
by the jests of the unbelievers in the Texan town, 
thought to teach these latter a lesson. He brought up 
one of his finest pets, and, having caused it to kneel, 
ordered 2 bales of hay, weighing 314 pounds each* 
placed upon it. The knowing by-standers were con- 
vinced that the animal could not rise with such a load, 
but they laughed in scorn when the Major ordered £ 
more bales piled on, making an aggregate weight of 
1,256 pounds. To the amazement of all, and to the ut- 
ter confusion of the scoffers, the camel, at the word of 
command, easily rose and walked off with his burden. 
This signal victory for the camel partisans created no 
little talk, and the incident was chronicled in verse by 
a local Texas poet, though unhappily, says Major 
Wayne, when he made his report, "I have not at hand 
a copy of the paper in which the ode was published," 
and it thus failed of official immortality. 
"On another occasion," to use the language of Sec- 
retary Davis in his annual report of December, 1856, 
"'the capacity of the camel for traveling over steep 
acclivities and oft muddy roads was tested with the 
most satisfactory result. Instead of making the detour 
rendered necessary by the location of the road to avoid 
a fugged mountain impracticable for wagons, the cartels 
followed a trail which passed directly oVer it arid, a 
heavy raiii occurring while they Were at the depot to 
which they had been sent for supplies, the road was 
rendered so muddy that it was considered impassable 
for loaded wagons. The train of camels were neverthe- 
less loaded with an average of 323 pounds each and 
fe&ufned to their encampment, a distance of 60 miles, 
in two days, suffering, as it is reported^ no interruption 
or unusual fatigue from the mud over which they had 
passed or the torrents of rain which fell upOli them. 
These tests fully realize the anticipations entertained 
of their usefulness in the transportation of military 
supplies. The experiment of introducing them into 
the climate of the United States has been confined to 
the southern frontier of Texas. Thus far the result 
is as favorable as the most sanguine could have hoped 
* * * Yhe very intelligent officer who was sent abroad to 
- procure them, and who has remained in charge of 
them, expresses entire confidence both of their great 
value for the purpose of transportation and their adap- 
1 it ion to the climate of a large portion of the United 
States." 
It should be noted that, m addition to this favorable 
opinion expressed by Major Wayne, that "intelligent 
officer," in his letters to the Department, placed es- 
pecial stress on the comparison in usefulness between 
the came), and the mule, claiming superiority for the 
former and pointing out that the camel required less 
food and no more attention than the mule. 
Something over $20,000 of the sum appropriated by 
Congress was yet unexpended, and in June Lieutenant 
Porter was furnished with $10,000 of this and directed 
to fetch home on the Supply another shipload of camels. 
The stO'reship then lay at New York, and, as food for 
the return trip, she took on board 150 bales (about 20 
tons) of hay, 6,000 gallons of oats, 10 barrels of beans, 
pod gallons of barley, 50 pounds of powdered sulphur, 
and 50 pounds of lard. The Department commissioned 
Mr. Heap at $2,000 a year and expenses and sent him 
on ahead directly to Smyrna, where, by the time that 
Porter arrived in November, he had collected from the 
interior a shipment of fine young animals. The Sultan 
of Turkey, through our minister at Constantinople, 
presented 6 dromedaries, which were included in this 
shipment. On the whole, this shipload was. a much 
finer lot than those procured on the first trip. At 
Smyrna Lieutenant Porter employed nine men and a 
boy at $15 a month each and brought them along to 
help care for the animals. The Government continued 
to employ some of these men, together with some of 
those who were brought over on the first trip, for many 
years at $10 to $15 a month. One of them at least, 
Hiogo Alii, remained in the service as camel driver, 
interpreter, or mail carrier until 1870, when, on being 
discharged, he filed a claim for further employment 
on the ground that such was due him under the con- 
tract made in 1856. 
Lieutenant Porter sailed for home November 14, 
and, although meeting the roughest weather he had 
ever encountered, he lost but 3 camels on a voyage of 
eighty-eight days, and was able to turn over to Major 
Wayne, at Indianola, February 10, 1857, 41 animals, all 
in fine condition. The new animals were taken to 
Camp Verde, which was now officially designated the 
camel station. Up to this time Wayne had lost 5 of 
his first herd— -2 by Spanish fever (a disease incident to 
acclimation), 1 by epilepsy, 1 from the bite of a par- 
ticularly ferocious companion, and one from blows 
probably inflicted by a mule driver who did not take 
kindly to the foreign beasts. The second shipload thus 
raised the camel herd to 70 in number. ' 
In February, 1857, the Senate directed the Secretary 
of War to furnish it with a report regarding his camel 
experiment. This report was submitted the same 
month, and is a well-written and comprehensive docu- 
ment comprising the letters of Lieutenant Porter and 
Major Wayne, together with the information they had 
obtained and the conclusions they had drawn. 
About this time the administration of President Bu- 
chanan came in and with it John B. Floyd as Secretary 
of War. Major Wayne, who had thus far conducted 
the camel experiment so vigorously and efficiently, was 
now transferred to the office of the Quartermaster- 
General at Washington, and could not, of course, give 
his personal attention longer to the Government cam- 
els, though he continued his interest in them, and was 
honored with a first-class medal from the Societe hn- 
periale zoologique d'acclimation of Paris, for his suc- 
cessful introduction and acclimatization of camels into 
this country. 
During the summer of 1857 the camels were used 
sparingly in carrying the supplies and in short scouts. 
In the fall of that year Lieut. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, 
afterwards a brigadier-general, and also minister to 
Austria under President Grant, was employed to open 
a wagon road from Fort Defiance, N. Mex., to the 
eastern frontiers of California, and a part of the herd 
of camels were put at his disposal for this expedition. 
The journey occupied forty-eight days through an un- 
explored wilderness of forest and plain and desert, the 
Colorado River being reached October 18. Lieutenant 
Beale speaks in the most enthusiastic terms of the 
work performed by the camels on this arduous trip. 
He says that they saved the members of the expedi- 
tion from many hardships, and excited the admiration 
of the Whole party by their ability and willingness to 
perfOrhi the tasks , set thent. He started with the de- 
termination that the experiment should be most thor- 
ough, and subjected the camels to trials "which no 
other animals could possibly have endured." On the 
desert they carried the water for the mules; traversed 
stretches of country covered with the sharpest volcanic 
rock without injury to their feet; climbed with heavy 
packs over mountains where the unloaded mules found 
it difficult to go even with the assistance of the dis- 
mounted riders; and, to the surprise of all the party, 
plunged into rivers without hesitation and swam them 
with ease. The lieutenant concludes that he would 
rather have one of the camels for such work than four 
of the best of his mules. One of the men who had 
charge of the camels on this trip, writing home to the 
.Richmond (Va.) Examiner, paints the same rosy pic- 
ture of their eittire docility and utility. 
This and Other favorable reports induced Secretary 
Floyd in his annual report in December, 1858, to make 
some interesting comments. "The entire adaptation 
of camels," he says, "to military operations on the plains 
may now be taken as demonstrated." The beast, to his mind, 
had already proved its "great usefulness and superiority 
over the horse for all movements upon the plains or 
desert," it would be of great value against the maraud- 
ing Indiansj and would materially reduce the expenses 
of the quartermaster's department in furnishing trans- 
portation. He recommended that Congress at once 
"authorize the purchase of 1,000 camels." So far was 
Congress from authorizing such a wholesale purchase, 
however, that it did not appropriate a cent, and a year 
afterwards, in December, 1859, the favorable reports 
continuing, the Secretary renewed his recommendation : 
The experiments thus far made — and they are pretty full — 
demonstrate that camels constitute a most useful and economic 
means of transportation for men and supplies through the 
great desert and barren portions of our interior. * * * An 
abundant supply of these animals would enable our Army to give 
greater and prompter protection to our frontiers and to all our 
inter-oceanic routes than three times their cost expended in any 
other way. As a measure of etlorlofny I can not too strongly 
recommend the purchase of a full supply to tire consideration, of 
Congress. 
But that body could not, as so often happens, see the 
matter in the same, light as the Secretary,, and did 
nothing towards loosening the purse strings for this 
purpose. By December, i860, the Secretary was still 
further confirmed in his opinion of the good work of 
the camels, and reiterated his recommendations of the 
two preceding years. 
Secretary Floyd probably based his belief and recom- 
mendations largely upon the reports of Lieutenant 
Beale, for, after the successful trip of that officer from 
Texas to California to open a wagon road through the 
wilderness, the secretary had placed twenty of the 
camels in his hands to be employed by him in national 
explorations. These expeditions were made over a 
large part of the Southwest, more particularly in the 
Rocky Mountains, and extended over a period of four 
years. During this time the animals rendered efficient 
service and were so well cared for by Lieutenant Beale 
that in 1861, with the incoming of a new administration 
and a new Secretary of War, he turned over to the 
Government quartermaster ill California a herd of 28, 
all in good condition. For the next two- years these 
28, with several others that had been brought on from 
Texas, were held at the various forts and military 
stations in California, no one of the officers in charge 
appearing to be able to find any work for them to do. 
In 1862 Lieutenant Beale wrote to Secretary Stanton 
describing the idle and unfavorable conditions under 
which the animals were then kept, stating that instead 
of any natural increase since he had returned them, 3 
of the finest had died, and proposing to take all of 
the remainder, give bond for their safe return at any 
time demanded, and to use them in further-exploration 
and in packing supplies across the great basin. At this 
time, he states, they were "of no earthly use either to 
the Government or any one else," and the expense of 
their maintenance was about $500 a month. This prop- 
osition was rejected, and a year later a plan was set 
on foot by Deputy Quartermaster E. B. Babbitt, 
stationed at San Francisco, to employ the camels in 
carrying the mail between Fort Mohave, N. Mex., and 
New San Pedro (Wilmington), Cal. Objection was 
made to this plan by both Lieut. D. J. Williamson, 
commanding at the former place, and Capt. William 
G. . Morris, at the latter, their reasons being based 
on statements entirely the reverse of those officially 
•made by Major Wayne and Lieutenant Beale. 
[to be concluded.] 
Monarch, the Big Bear. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
It seems to have been fully demonstrated that Mr. 
Seton's last book was nearly all taken from Mr. Allen 
Kelly's "Bears I Have Met, and Others;" and without 
Mr. Kelly's knowledge or consent. Also that this 
"book" of Mr, Seton's is practically only what Mr. Kel- 
ly, by Mr. Seton's urgent request, had saturated Mr. 
Seton with in the parlor of a Los Angeles hotel, after 
Mr. Seton had "hunted him up," and not, as Mr. Seton 
alleges in the preface of his "book," told to him in 
wildernesses by wild savages, and in "tongue unknown 
to script." 
Yet this kind of authorship was soberly defended 
here last week by Mr. R. T. Morris, as being the privi- 
lege of "genius that transmutes lead into gold." The 
Doctor should not have asserted this before reading 
Mr. Kelly's book, and despite his denial, is intended 
as "a reflection on Mr. Kelly's writing." They compare 
favorably with the work of the appropriating "genius." 
They are not lead, to be "transmuted," but are already 
"gold." 
It seems to depend on whose ox is gored. How 
quickly Mr. Kelly would have been confronted with a 
claim and suit for damages, and an injunction, if one 
of Mr. Seton's books had been so "appropriated" by 
Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly's years of actual experience and 
very exceptionally complete knowledge, and his vivid, 
charming selection and style, as Well as his money 
expenses and copyright of his book, are not Mr. 
Seton's to "transmute," be they lead or gold. Yet Dr. 
Morris compares them to the trivial taking of a canoe 
paddle by an Indian, and which it would be "a breach 
of etiquette" to claim; to playful fence jumping and 
pasture breaking by a neighbor's horses, and to the 
water, to which Mr. Seton is "welcome," that runs from 
the Doctor's land into Mr, Seton's land at Stamford, 
Conn. 
This is special pleading. Suppose that the Doctor 
should wake up some fine morning and find that all 
his trout and all the partridges on that beautiful coun- 
try estate, had been "appropriated" and exposed for 
sale by Mr. Seton in the New York and other markets. 
Suppose that, not content with this, Mr. Seton had, 
during the night, spirited away all the woods, waters, 
land and houses constituting the Doctor's country 
place, and had set them up elsewhere as an owned ad- 
dition to Mr. Seton's estate; and that when the Doctor 
remonstrated, his own words, used here last week, 
should be quoted to him as follows: "We do not al- 
ways consider how much benefit may result from having 
things taken from us." Certainly not! But how long 
does the Doctor think a court and jury would listen to 
such spohistry by Mr. Seton's attorney? 
Courtesy and goodwill between sportsmen and neigh- 
bors is one thing. To seek and secure substantial re- 
wards in reputation and money royalties, by taking 
admirable property painfully accumulated by another, 
is something very different. L. F. B. 
"Wants to Join the Patty. 
St. Louis, Nov. 19. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
have just finished perusing Mr. Brown's "Sleeping Ducks" 
article. I never like to push in the door, but I have a 
feeling away down that I would like to join in on that 
trip with Mr. Ackert, and, were it possible, would like to 
see Coahoma made a welcome party thereto. It's a moot 
question between Mr. Brown and Mr. Ackert as to 
whether (dusky) mallards sleep all together and at one 
and the same time. Now, if Coahoma still insists that 
ducks can't smell, we, too, could join in the hunt, armed 
only with a can (hermetically sealed) of imported Lim- 
burger, the same to be opened up before those present 
when it is blowing a stiff gale toward the ducks. 
I feel like the alderman we once had in St. Paul who 
accentuated each statement made by remarking, "And I 
can prove it, Mr. President." The habit of proof was 
so strong upon him that one day when in a leaky boat 
fishing he was so intent upon his sport that he did not 
notice that the boat was rapidly filling through the many 
fissures in its sides. When he discovered the situation, 
bailing was out of the question, it being only a matter of 
a few seconds before the gunwales and water met. "Pat," 
he yelled out to his friend, "this boat is sinking, and I can 
prove it," and suiting the action to the word, he jumped 
free of the boat and floundered through mud and water 
to terra firma. 
That's the way I feel about the question of ducks smell- 
ing. They can smell and I can prove it. 
Charles Cristadoro. 
Sleeping Ducks on Hudson Ice. 
Jersey City, Nov. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: In 
his reply to L. F. Brown, in Forest and Stream of Nov. 
5. James Ackert, Jr., writes of killing black ducks on ice 
floes in the Hudson River in March; he also invites Mr. 
Brown to come up and be convinced in March next. 
As I understand the New York game laws, it is illegal 
to kill ducks at that time of year, and if Mr. Ackert kills 
them at that time of year, as I am led to believe by his 
article, one thing is certain, whether ducks sleep or not, 
and that is there must be a game warden along the Hud- 
son somewhere who needs waking up. 
Otto Keim. 
Canadian Camp-Fire Club. 
At the annual dinner of the Canadian Camp-Fire Club, 
in New York on Wednesday evening of last week, the 
piece de resistance was roast Adirondack black bear, sent 
to the club with the compliments of Grover Cleveland. 
Dr. William J. Long was the toastmaster, and the speakers 
and their topics were: Professor George Willis Creel- 
man, "The Winnebago and the Mississoga;" William M. 
Fuller, "Backwoods Life ;" L. O. Armstrong, "A Woman's 
Panoe Trip in Canada ;" Alvah D. James, "On the Ama- 
zon;" Dr. Robert T. Morris, "Grubbing for Rations." 
