Feb. II, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
117 
them out of the heavy timber while following that 
specter of a rabbit. Where they crossed the wagon road 
about one-fourth of a mile from camp I left the trail and 
went to camp. 
When Journay came in, he said he had followed the 
same trail back toward Plum Creek. After dinner I 
went back and picked up the trail again, hoping the deer 
had stopped in the heavy timber east of Plum Creek, for 
it was very cold and stormy. But the deer had turned 
;north toward the railroad and followed the open chop- 
ping nearly to Sayner station, then turned east, and I 
left the trail where it crossed the wagon road, convinced 
that following deer in the snow is a very poor way to 
hunt deer. I never had any faith in it, but this was our 
last day, and it was too cold to stand and watch, so we 
must either tramp or stay in camp. Now I was at least 
2y-z miles from camp, and had not tramped less than 
twelve miles that day. The weather was below the 
freezing point, and the wind blew strong enough to 
almost obliterate deer tracks within a half hour in ex- 
posed places. I must trudge back to camp and to-mor- 
row pack up. Thirty minutes later I had reached the 
shelter of the green timber, and from the depressed feel- 
ing that accompanied me through the bleak, lonely chop- 
ping, my spirits rose with the greeting and my flesh 
warmed under the influence of the stately young pine 
trees which formed a perfect barrier to the wintry blasts. 
The Doctor, moved either by compassion or remembrance 
of his promise, had a large pan of excellent biscuits for 
supper, and I felt when I drew up to the table that truly 
it is an ill wind that blows no good. 
The morning of the 30th came like a thief in the night, 
and I was loth to leave my warm bed, though the hour 
'was late. The Doctor, Snahr, Journay and Hedrick 
started for a morning hunt, but Bender and I had 
enough ; Charley gave his attention to the kitchen, and 
soon had some rabbits stewing, while I shook out my bed 
and beat the ice and snow from the tents, pulled the 
stakes, and got things as far as possible ready to pack up. 
The wind had laid, and the sun shone through a film of 
cloud, so it was not unpleasant work except for the ice 
that adhered to the bottom of the tents ; and by the time 
the boys came in and we had lunched, I had the tents 
pretty well dried, . and Charley had the kitchen ware 
assorted and ready for packing. Mr. Sayner came for 
us with his bobsled, and by 4 P. M. we were at the 
station awaiting the train. We arrived home at 9 :03 
P. M. December i, and have nothing but the kindliest 
feelings for each and every person with whom we came 
in contact except the two aforesaid gentlemen ( ?) who 
visited our camp. Permit me, Mr. Editor, to especially 
thank the management of the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
bt._ Paul Railway Company and their employes for the 
universally courteous treatment they have accorded us. 
G. W. Cunningham. 
Docks in New Yotfc Market. 
New York, Jan. 30. — Editor Forest and Stream: I was 
interested in an article in your last issue telling of the 
good work done by the game commissioners in seizing 
game sold out of season. Personally I neither break game 
laws nor, fond as I am of wild duck properly cooked, will 
I even buy game; but although prevented by the Brown 
law from shooting one duck for my own use, ducks are 
openly displayed and sold by the butcher stores on 
Columbus avenue at the present time within one block 
from ^vhere I write. The claim that these ducks are killed 
south is all rot. This year, for my own personal amuse- 
ment, I have examined the crops of the following birds : 
Black duck, broadbill, pintail and teal. Microscopically 
the contents of birds' crops south of Barnegat, including 
Currituck and south of there, showed corn, wheat kernels, 
and a form of green leaf which, from the amount of chlor- 
ophyl and the direction of the strize, I take to be the tops 
of wild celery. These three things were not in the crops 
of birds from Long Island which I shot myself. I know 
where the other birds came from, because they were 
presents to me from patients who had been shooting on 
the Chesapeake and Currituck. The corn was probably 
because they "bait" places in the South. Maryland 
is quite a wheat country. The neighborhood of the Chop- 
tank River raises thousands of bushels shipped to Balti- 
more by the "bug-eye" fleet. 
The result of the matter is that those who support the 
"lobster palaces" of Broadway, and who would not know 
a game law if it met them in the street, and could not hit 
a duck in a year, can get all the ducks they want, while 
those who respect the law go duckless. 
This is too much. One is tempted to take Herford's 
advice to the Persian kittten and "plead the rumble of an 
empty tum" for ducks. Henry Thorp. 
The New York Legislature. 
special Correspondence Forest and Stream. 
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 7.— Amendments to the fish and game law 
have just been introduced in the Legislature as follows: 
By Senator Raines (Int. 247), adding a new section, to be 
known as Section 43b, so as to provide that trout shall not be 
sold, exposed for sale or possessed for the purpose of selling from 
Sept. 1 to April 21 in any year. 
By Senator Raines (Int. iNfo. 248), amending Section 28 so as to 
provide that quail shall not be sold or possessed during the close 
season, except in the month of December, and possession and 
sale thereof during December shall be presumptive evidence that 
they were unlawfully taken by the possessor. 
By Senator Raines (Int. No. 249), adding a new section to be 
known as Section 28a, to provide that woodcock and grouse shall 
not be sold, exposed for sale or "possessed for the purpose of sell- 
ing from Dec. 6 to Sept. 21, in any year. 
By Senator Cordts (Int. No. 271) and Assemblyman Coutant 
(Int. No. 379), providing that there shall be no open season for 
wild deer in the county of Sullivan before Sept. 1, 1907. 
By Assemblyman Thompson (Int. No. 371), amending Section 
30 so as to provide that Wilson, yellowlegs, rail, mudhen, gallinule. 
curlew, water chicken, jacksnipe, baysnipe or shore birds, shall 
not be taken or possessed, in the counties of Niagara, Genesee or 
Orleans, from May 15 to Sept. 15, both inclusive. 
By A.ssemblyman Reeve (Int. No. .321), providing a new section, 
to be known as 15a, so as to prohibit the taking, killing or ex- 
posing for sale, any land turtles or tortoises, including the box 
turtle; also amending Section 16, so as to provide an additional 
penalty of $25 for each' wild moose or any such wild animal taken 
or possessed in violation of the law; also a penalty of $50 for each 
wild black bear similarly taken; also a penalty of $100 for each 
turtle so taken, and a penalty of $10 for each land turtle or tor- 
toise thtis taken. Any person failing to file a report with the State 
lorest, Fish and Game Commission of the killing or taking of the 
black bear is liable to a penalty of $25. 
By Assemblyman Leggett (Int. No. 351), a new section, to be 
known as 20b, providing that bluebills, sawbills, whistlers and 
sheldrakes shall not be taken on the Niagara River from March 1 
to Sept. 15, both inclusive. Nor taken in the night from an hour 
after sunset until an hour before sunrise. 
Assemblyman Standard (Int. No. 362), amending Section 20 so 
as to provide that wild ducks shall not be taken in the counties 
of Niagara and Erie, from March 1 to Oct. 15, both inclusive, or 
possessed from March 1 to Oct. 15, both inclusive; nor shall 
ducks, geese, brant and swan be taken in the night from an hour 
after sunset until ari, hour before sunrise. 
By Senator Davis' (Int. No. 226), the same bill as the Standard 
bill above. 
The Senate Committee on Fish and Game has reported favor- 
ably the bill of Senator Cobb (Int. No. 142), amending Section 48 
so as to provide that muscallonge less than 20 inches in length 
shall not be possessed or intentionally taken, and if taken, shall 
v/ithout avoidable injury be returned to the water where taken. 
The Assembly has passed the bill of Assemblyman Hanford (Int. 
No. 165) relative to the close season for woodcock and grouse 
in Niagara county. 
The following bills have been advanced to third reading by the 
Assembly : 
Assemblyman Beebe's (Int. No. 223), regulating the taking of 
ducks, geese, brant and swan in Monroe county. 
Assemblyman Wade's (Int. No. 249), relative to the meshes of 
nets to be used in Lake Erie. 
Assemblyman Wadsworth's (Int. No. 243), relative to the use of 
set lines in Hemlock Lake. 
Assemblyman Foster's (Int. No. 262), limiting the size of mus- 
kallonge to be taken. 
Assemblyman Wade's (Int. No. 278) relative to the close season 
for squirrels, grouse, woodcock and quail in Chautauqua county. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New York, and not to any individual connecteid with the paper. 
mmi) 
t\ 
hi J 
00 
The Log of a Sea Angler. 
SY CHARLES F. HOLDER, AUTHOR OF "aNGLING/' "bIG GAME 
FISHES," ETC. 
V. — Taking a Sailfish. 
Last night I left camp at midnight and walked around 
the key alone, and I am confident that I know definitely 
what isolation means. 
Deep in the heart of a forest, a stroller may walk 
out, if his sense of direction is well developed; but on 
this green-capped coral key the isolation is complete. 
One may walk, but it is an interminable circle over end- 
less sand that at night has a spectral whiteness, yet 
strange beauty. The low bush, green during the day, 
has now a purple hue, and the strange noises of the 
night come with a crisp distinctness that tells of nerves 
attuned to a high pitch. The shapes of gold-laden gal- 
leons that have been wrecked here rise; the wrecks that 
have pounded to pieces on the toothed reefs, and the 
spectral shapes of the sand and various objects stranded 
in long, irregular windrows, seem exaggerated in the 
peculiar phosphorescent light that is emitted by the 
sea that comes piling in on the windward side. The 
gulls are sleeping; only an occasional wanderer is 
abroad; its weird cry, intense and stridulent, bites the 
very air. As far as the eye can seee, the shore line is a 
mass of ghostly light, while the pounding of the waves 
has a hollow, insistent booming sound, that adds to the 
weirdness of the scene. 
The previous night I had suggested that we take turns 
in patrolling the key in search of turtles; but Chief ob- 
jected at once, and I found, to my astonishment, that 
none of my companions would walk around the island 
at night alone. They knew that we were absolutely 
alone on the key, as we had tramped across the island 
from every point; 3^et Long John's excuse was that he 
"didn't know what he might meet." So I fell to won- 
dering whether this was the lair of the sea serpent, or 
whether perhaps sirens basked on the golden sands 
at midnight; but I met none of them, and held to my 
walk around the north end, leaving the breakmg sea 
behind. The wind was hot, the sand still threw out 
radiations of heat, and the sea was a blaze of phos- 
phorescence, as I waded along in the shallows. 
Suddenly I heard a pouf¥-pouff, and stopped. A 
swirl of phosphorescence about thirty feet from the 
shore told the story of a turtle, and I stood like a 
statue as it came slowly in. It stopped at the beach 
five minutes, then deciding that I was a tree, came on, 
and a few seconds later I sprang upon it. Four or five 
times r raised it upon its side, and as many times it 
threw me oft with stinging blows; but I finally top- 
pled it over and went swinging down the beach exultant. 
Suddenlv I made out a figure standing near the bnish, 
then' another, then came the resonant voice of Bob, 
"Whose iUvV I M not reply, but kept on, 
- ''Step, m 111 Wsw a hole In m!' a Irfifntiloiis 
"Oh, it's you, boss," and the two men came down the 
beach. 
"Who did you think it was?" I asked. 
"I'll be dogged if I knew," said Bob, and then I got 
the story out of them. 
"The last time I was over here," said Bob, "we camped 
out where we are and divided up the turtle watch. 
Chief went out first, and he hadn't been gone long be- 
fore back he came and sings out, 'You both there?' and 
we were. 'Well,' says he — and he hadn't had a drop — 
'I followed a man half around the point; he kept about 
a hundred yards ahead of me.' We laughed; but Chief 
said he wouldn't go out again without a gun, and we 
didn't have any. So John started, and in half a hour 
he came over the island and said he had met a man on 
the other side, face to face, and had lost him in the 
bush. 
"Well, boss, we all started out together, and we found 
there was no boat there, and the next day we walked 
over every foot of the key and never found a thing or 
a sign of a soul; so it's kind of unpleasant strollin' over 
the key alone. The place is haunted, that's a fac'." 
"That's it," acquiesced Chief. "I made many trips 
around the key at night, but never encountered the 
stranger." 
When we came over, John had brought two tame 
pelicans that he had raised from infancy — long-billed, 
asthmatic, wheezy creatures of bilious mien. They sat 
on the deck of the Bull Pup, deep in thought when not 
eating or fishing, and went with us on the daily fishing 
trips, either alighting on the boat or swimming near 
us, and wheezing for food, which we tossed them. One 
morning I found Bob fastening a leather collar about 
the neck of the birds. This accomplished, he drove 
them from the sands into the water, where they began 
to fish. They would rise and fly along twenty feet or 
so above the surface, and when sighting a school of 
sardines, turn and plunge downward, head first, with 
great velocity, opening the large mouth at the impact 
and endeavoring to fill the net-like pouch. So light is 
-the pelican that it immediately assumes the perpendicu- 
lar, and whether successful or not invariably wags its 
short tail and tosses its beak in air, preparatory to 
swallowing the game. 
The tame pelicans did this, but they could not swal- 
low on account of the strap, so gave it up and came 
ashore, where Bob took the fish. I found I was mis- 
taken in laying the act to laziness, all of which illus- 
trates the fact that circumstantial evidence is not always 
to be relied upon. Bob merely used the pelicans to 
catch some special gray snapper bait that was beyond 
the reach of his cast-net, and the result of an hour's 
fishing with them was two or three dozen little fishes 
which he called "hard heads." The Chinese employ 
loons in a similar manner. 
We pulled out this hot day to some coral heads op 
the edge of the channel, and I tried the gray snspper, 
which, to my mind, when it can be bad at its best, is far 
fthfad Pf the bjacls ^mn. The two ftihes look ygr^ 
alike, but the snapper is the cleanest cut, the gamiest, 
and on a light rod — and by light I mean a heavy bass 
rod — is a fish to conjure with, and a 25-pound gray 
snapper, a few of which I have taken on various parts 
of the reef, affords splendid sport. 
They are usually murdered with big cotton lines, and 
the fine play of the fish is lost and the sport brutalized. 
The young on a trout rod aflford all the pleasure of this 
sport, and I was never tired of stocking our well. 
On this delectable morning I had caught everything 
on the piscatorial bill of fare — yellowtail, hogfisli, porgy, 
grunt.s, and finally hooked a snapper with a bunch of 
hardheads. In a second he had unreeled one hundred 
feet of line, and from a short sulk, came bounding up- 
ward to turn at the surface and make the circuit of the 
dinghy at the top of his speed, playing me, not I him, 
for twenty minutes, and then I purposely broke the 
line. We did not need him, and to see Chief gaff so 
beautiful and so gamy a creature was not on my pro- 
gramme. Of all fishes, the gray snapper has, at least 
to me — the most attractive "face." Its eyes are beau- 
tiful, the antipodes of those of the sardines, or the tar- 
pon, black and white marbles which glare at you, fixed 
and immovable; but the eye of the snapper in the water 
is a gem, radiant with colors, which give to this fish 
an expression not found in other fishes. 
While I was pretending to mourn the loss of my big 
snapper. Long John turned and whispered, "Look 
yander, boss!" I followed the direction of his long 
bony finger and saw what appeared to be a miniature 
sail moving slowly along. I knew it at once, though 
I had never seen the sailfish alive. With a word to 
Bob, we had the coral hook up and I was standing in 
the bow, grains in hand, while Long John steered the 
dinghy after the fish. 
It presented a singular appearance; was possibly 
seven feet in length, its sail-like dorsal and the upper 
lobe of its tail protruding from the water. The dorsal 
fin was an enormous affair, nearly as long as the fish, 
seemingly four feet in height and deeply notched, re- 
sembling a huge ribbon fan; and as the sun played upon 
it, it seemed to glisten and scintillate with many hues. 
The big fin had a peculiar motion like a fan about to 
shut up, quivering and trembling. It was moving very 
slowly, the tail fin working like a screw and wafting it 
along, a fanciful ship on this glass-like sea, yet the in- 
carnation- of power and viciousness I knew full well. 
Long John was swearing to himself; he did not ap- 
prove of the gairje, but Chief was all excitement; his 
veins were under pressure all the time with sporting 
blood; there was no gamp too fierce, too dangerous, for 
him. Nearer we crept, and presently I could see the 
dome-like head of the swordsman, its back looking 
green against the blug; then the short dagger-like 
sword; and then I tQSSgd the grains, and into the air 
literally burst thg splendid fish, flinging itself from side 
to side, giving glashmg Wpi^ys to right and left like tbg 
;ehr» ^ftplf^^'l^i with s r«§li, mijm ft ff f 
