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FOREST AND STREAM. 
place for lions. In fact, before dark we had seen their 
tr.acks, old and new, in all directions. 
First, however, I warned the Turkish "sanjak" of my 
rascally bodyguard to see well to the picketing of the 
animals, for I did not wish to lose a horse or camel as 
the result of a joke. The sanjak, who hated the Egyp- 
tian, grinned from ear to ear and gave the necessary 
orders. 
After supper, as we were sitting by the camp-fire in the 
shade of an overhanging bush-covered bank, I led the 
conversation to the subject of lions. 
The Egyptian officer was boasting as usual when sud- 
denly my English servant, who was in the plot, said, as 
if in alarm, while staring into the thicket : "What's that 
sound, Mustapha Effendi? Don't you hear something 
crackling in there? I hope it's not another lion, for I 
am not so brave about them as you are." We all listened 
intently. The crackling was plainly heard — it was com- 
ing nearer ; it did sound uncommonly as if a lion might 
be approaching. 
We all made ready to rise, but Mustapha Effendi was 
already upon his feet when, from the distance of only 
about three yards in the darkness, a terrific and deafen- 
ing roar burst upon the startled night. The roar was 
followed by the. horrible gruff cough, several times re- 
peated, which is still more terrible, as it usually precedes 
a kill. _ 
So lion-like was the sound that, although expecting it, 
I was momentarily alarmed myself and grasped my re- 
volver. Others seized their weapons also, for it seemed 
impossible that such a volume of sound could come from 
any throat but that of the veritable king of beasts. 
■In the meantime, where was the great lion-slayer, Mus- 
tapha Effendi Ramzie? The sound of flying feet rattling 
over the gravelly bed of the Khor was all that was left 
of him now. 
So we sent "the lion" in pursuit, which was continued 
with roar after roar, the sound reverberating on the 
cliffs and dying away into the darkest recesses of the 
ravine. Meanwhile, every soul in camp was convulsed 
with laughter, as the men poured their favorite "tedge" 
down their throats and drank to the courage of the 
Egyptian staff officer. But now comes the point of my 
story. This joractical joke came very nearly to ending 
tragically, for either the pursuer or the pursued ; for 
suddenly, at no great distance up the lion-renowned Khor 
Ansaba, was heard an answering roar, and then another 
— nearer at hand. A real lion had taken up the chal- 
lenge, and it was now our turn to be alarmed. Seizing 
brands from the fire, and firing off rifles as we went, a 
party of us rushed up the rocky defile after the two men; 
the rest, by my order, rushed to guard the picketed ani- 
mals, for there was no knowing how many of the brutes 
there might be about, and lions often roar on purpose 
to make the terrified animals break away and then seize 
them. The reports of the rifles, the shouts, and above all 
the roaring of the real lion, had soon had their effect 
in causing the flying staff officer to halt terror-stricken 
between, as he imagined, two lionine foes, and the sham 
lion to com.e back faster than he went, with all the roar 
taken out of him. 
Fortunately, by the time that we reached poor Mus- 
tapha, to find him petrified with' fear, the hub-bub made 
by the relieving, force had driven the lion, which had 
been all too successfully "called" back again to the fast- 
nesses of the hills. 
From that time forward the crestfallen staff officer 
never mentioned the word lion, but the Abyssinian wag, 
whose imitative skill had called something more tangible 
than "spirits from the vasty deep" from the dark re- 
cesses of the mountains, became the hero of the expedi- 
tion. But I allowed no more practical jokes after that 
night. 
Friars Point. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your prolific and entertaining contributor, Mr. Ray- 
mond S. Spears, is presumed to give your readers a cor- 
rect portrayal of the characters of the people and country 
encountered_by him while "floating down the Mississippi." 
There is evidence, however, that he has, to some extent, 
yielded to the inclination to write a picturesque narrative 
at some sacrifice of the varieties, at least in his latest 
contribution, which deals with localities that are quite 
familiar to the writer. Mr. Spears landed at Friars Point, 
an old town situated on the Mississippi River about 
twelve, miles from where I am writing. The expressions 
recorded as coming from Mr. Spears' "guide and mentor," 
the cabin boat man, would make the impression that 
Friars Point is located in a "wild and woolly" com- 
munity, where on "New Year's Day" reckless men "shoot 
up the town" with forty- fours in true western style. Noth- 
ing could be more foreign to the truth. 
In an intimate acquaintance with Friars Point, for 
more than twenty years, I can recall only one shooting 
affair as haying occurred there, which was a fight be- 
tween an editor and a lawyer some fifteen years ago, in 
which the editor was killed by the first shot. 
Friars Point is surrounded by a highly developed coun- 
try_ consisting of large cotton plantations owned by an 
enlightened class of citizens. The town has suffered 
some decadence from the influence of its younger rival, 
Clarksdale, having only seven or eight hundred inhabi- 
tants. It is one of the county seats of Coahoma county, 
Clarksdale being the other. Friars Point has one bank, 
an oil mill and box factory, while Clarksdale with some 
three thousand people has five banks, two oil mills, a 
cotton compress, spoke factory, water works, sewers and 
electrical plant. In a residence here of seventeen years 
I have never known a street fight to occur in which shoot- 
ing was done. In fact, this is one of the most progres- 
sive parts of the so-called "Yazoo Delta," and is remark- 
ably free from rowdyism. 
Mr. Spears' associations in this region seem to have 
been confined to cabin boat people, a class of human 
"flotsam and jetsam" with whom the writer never comes 
in contact and therefore cannot speak of with knowledge 
at first hand. But the language used by Mr. Spears' 
cabin boat man is an impossible combination of Yankee- 
isms and negroisms. It is a common error of northern 
writers to put Yankeeisms into the mouths of southern 
negroes and ignorant whites, expressions that are never 
used by them. Even Mr. Emerson Hough has fallen 
into this incongruity though he ought to have known 
better. One more allusion and I am done. Mr. Spears 
speaks of yellow pine logs afloat in the Mississippi River 
as if they were familiar objects. There is no pine of any 
kind growing near the Mississippi River, nor any of its 
tributaries, north of this locality, as far up as the mouth 
of the Missouri at least, and probably much farther. The 
writer has had large opportunity for observing "drift" in 
the Mississippi, covering a period of many years, and 
has never yet observed a pine log among the drift above 
the mouth of Red River, in Louisiana. 
It is not an agreeable task to the writer to interrupt 
the_ even flow of Mr. Spears' really very entertaining nar- 
rative, but I cannot see my own country presented in a 
misleading light without entering a protest. 
Coahoma. 
Clarksdalf, Miss., May 25. 
Moose Hunting 200 Years Ago. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I wonder how many of your readers are familiar with 
the works of Baron Lahonton, a traveler in America 220 
years ago. He wrote a perfectly delightful book which 
we might all: of us read with profit and pleasure, as I 
have lately done. 
The title of the book is "New Voyages to North 
America, ' containing am account of the several nations of 
that vast continent, their customs, commerce and way of 
navigation on the lakes and rivers, the several attempts 
of English and French to dispossess one another, with 
the reasons of the miscarriage of the former and the 
various adventures between the French and the Iroquese 
confederates of England," and so on, running down 
through a page of small type. Such was the manner of 
those fine old authors who wanted to make their title 
pages tables of contents as well. The first edition was 
published about 1703 and the second in 1735. 
Way back in 1683 Lahonton, then a lad of sixteen, went 
to Canada, where he spent about eleven years in the ser- 
vice of the French king, and he traveled over Canada and 
northern America as far as beyond the Mississippi. Dur- 
ing his absence in the new land he was in constant corre- 
spondence by letter with an old relative, Avho supplied 
him each j^ear with money, and in return asked that the 
youth should tell him of what he saw in the country 
where he was stationed. These letters, which constitute the 
book, give an account of the intercourse friendly or hos- 
tile between the English^ the French and the Iroquois and 
other savages during these eleven years, with frequent 
accounts of the manners and customs of the Indians, 
among, which, of course, are descriptions of the hunting 
customs of these people at a time when white men had 
been less than a hundred years in the land, and had done 
very little toward exploring it. 
On one of his expeditions Lahonton pushed west to 
beyond the Mississippi. . Voyaging by canoe over the 
Lake of the lUinese, now known as Lake Michigan, he 
entered the Baie des Puants — Green Bay, Wis. — pushed 
up the river, and carrying across to the Ouisconsin 
River went down that to the Mississippi. He went up 
the Long River — Minnesota — and even seems to have de- 
scended the Mississippi to the Missouri and passed up 
that to the country of the Missouri and the Akansas 
Indians. The time of his being there was about that of 
La Salle and he met Mr. De Tonti and other travelers 
of celebrity. 
Lahontan's travels were thus extensive and his descrip- 
tions are detailed and interesting. Yet for many years 
his work and his observations appear to have been but 
little valued. Lately, however, his name has been given 
to that great inland sea — as large in area' as Lake Erie — 
which once covered a part of the State of Nevada. This 
was one of several prehistoric lakes of great size former- 
ly scattered over the great Basin of the arid West, of 
which Lake Bonneville was one, represented now only 
by the Great Salt Lake, whose area is about one-ninth 
of Lake Bonneville. 
Two of Lahonton's accounts are especially interesting 
to big game hunters and to naturalists, and, as very few 
people know the book, I have ventured to transcribe them 
and offer them here. The edition, from which this copy 
is made verbatim, is illustrated by many quaint old plates, 
one of which you may like to reproduce. 
Flere is his account of moose hunting in which are 
used the terms elk and orignal — old names for our moose 
— and hart, a name for what we to-day call elk or wapiti. 
"The hunting of Elks is perform'd upon the Snow, with 
such Rackets as you see design'd in the annex'd Cut. 
These Rackets are two Foot and a half long, and four- 
teen Inches broad ; their Ledges are made of a very hard 
Wood, about an Inch thick, that fastens the Net just like 
a Tennis Racket, from which they differ only in this; 
that those for the Tennis are made of Gut-strings, 
whereas the others are made of little Thongs of the Skins 
of Harts or Elks. In the Cut, you may perceive two 
little Spars of Wood, which run across to render the Net 
firmer and stiffer. The Hole that appears by the two 
Latchets, is the Place in which they put the Toes and 
forepart of the Foot; so that 'tis tied fast by the two 
Latchets, which run twice round about the Heel, and 
every Step they make upon the Snow, the Fore-part of- 
the Foot sinks into that Hole, as often as they raise their 
Heel. By the Help of this Contrivance they walk faster 
ppon the Snow, than . one can do with Shoes upon a 
beaten Path ; And indeed 'tis so necessary for them, that 
'twould be otherwise impossible not only to hunt and 
range the Woods, but even to go to Church notwithstand- 
ing they are so near ; for commonly the Snow is three or 
four Foot deep in that Country during the Winter. Being 
oblig'd to march thirty or forty Leagues in the Woods, 
in Pursuit of the abovementioned Animals, I found that 
the Fatigue of the Journey equal'd the pleasure of it. 
"The Orignal is a sort of Elk, not much different from 
that we find in Muscovy. 'Tis as big as an, Auvergne 
Moyle, and much of the same Shape, abating for its 
Muzzle, its Tail, and its great flat Horns, which weigh 
sometimes 300, and sometimes 400 Weight, if we may 
credit those who' pretend to have weigh'd 'em. This 
Animal usually, resorts to planted Countries. Its Hair 
is long and brown; and the Skin is strong and hard, but 
not thick. The Flesh of the Orignal, especially that of 
the Female sort, eats deliciously ; and 'tis said, that the 
far hind Foot of the Female kind, is a Cure for the Fall- 
ing-Sickness; it neither runs nor skips, but its trot will 
almost keep up with the running of a Hart. The Sav- 
ages assure us, that in Summer 'twill trot three Days 
and three Nights without intennission. This sort of 
Animals commonly gather into a Body towards the latter 
end of Autumn; and the Herds are largest in the Begin- 
ning of the Spring, at which time the she ones are in 
rutting ; but after their Heat is over, they all disperse 
themselves. We hunted 'em in the following Manner: 
First of all, we went 40 Leagues to the Northward of 
the River St. Lawrence, where we found a little Lake of 
three or four Leagues in Circumference, and upon the 
Banks of that Lake, we made Hutts for ourselves of the 
Barks of Trees, having first clear'd the Ground of the 
Snow that cover'd it. In our Journey thither, we kill'd 
as many Hares and Wood-hens, as we could eat. When 
we had fitted up our Hutts, the Savages went out upon 
the Discovery of the Elks, some to the Northward, and 
some to the South, to the . distance of two or three 
Leagues from the Hutts. r As ^^s^^ 
any fresh Foot-steps, they detach'd one of their Number 
to give us notice, to the End, that the whole Company 
might have the Pleasure of seeing the Chace. We trac'd 
these Foot-steps sometimes for one, and sometimes for 
two Leagues, and then fell in with five, ten, fifteen or 
twenty Elks in a Body; which presently betook them- 
selves to flight, whether a-part or in a Body, and sunk 
into the Snow up to their Breast. Where the Snow was 
hard and condensated, or where the Frost following wet 
Weather had glaz'd it above, we came up with 'em after 
the Chace of a Quarter of a League; But when the Snow 
was soft or just fallen, we were forc'd to pursue 'em 
three or four Leagues before we could catch 'em, unless 
the Dogs happen'd to stop 'em where the Snow was very 
deep. When we came up with them, the Savages fired 
upon 'em with Fusees. If the Elks be much inrag'd, 
they'll sometimes turn upon the Savages, who cover 
themselves with Boughs in order to keep off their Feet 
with which they would crush 'em to Pieces. As soon as 
they are kill'd, the Savages make new Hutts upon the 
Spot, with great Fires in the middle; while the Slaves 
are imploy'd in Flaying 'em and stretching out the Skins 
in the open Air. One of the Soldiers that accompany's 
me, told me one Day, that to withstand the Violence of 
the Cold, one ought to have his Blood compos'd of 
Brandy, his Body of Brass, and his Eyes of Glass; And 
I inust say, he had some ground for what he spoke, for 
we were forc'd to keep a Fire all round us, all the Night 
long. As long as the flesh of these Animals lasts, the 
Savages seldom think of stirring; but when 'tis all con- 
sumed, they then look out for a new Discovery. Thus 
they continue to hunt, till the Snow and the Ice are 
melted. As sooii as the great Thaw commences, 'tis im- 
possible for 'em to travel far ; so that they content them- 
selves with the killing of Hares and Partridges, which 
are very numerous in the Woods. -When the Rivers are 
clear of the Ice, they make Canows of the Elk-skins, 
which they sew together very easily, covering the Seams 
with a fat sort of Earth instead of Pitch. This Work is 
over in four or five Days' time, after which they return 
home in the Canows vi^ith all their Baggage." 
It Will Interest Them. 
To Each Reader: 
If you find in the Forest and Stream news or discussions^f 
interest, your friends and acquaintances who are fond of out-door 
life will probably also enjoy reading it. If you think of any who 
would do so, and care to send them coin cards, which, when re- 
turned with a nominal sum, will entitle them to one short-time 
"trial trip," we shall be glad to send you, without cost, coin 
cards for such distribution, upon receiving from you a postal 
card request. Or, the following blank may be sent : 
Forest and Stream Publishing Co., i- 
346 Broadway, New York. 
Please send me Forest and Stream Coin 
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