FOREST AND STREAM. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 
Devoted to Field and 
s srrssu 
IN out-Door Recreation and Study: 
PUBLISHED BY 
forest and gtrcani gub linking flompani-: 
—AT— 
NO. Ill (Old NO. 108) FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
[Post OrrxoB Box 2S32.J 
TERMS, FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR, STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. 
Twenty-live per cent, off for Clubs of Three or more. 
Advertising Role*. 
Inside pages, nonpareil type, 86 cents per line ; outside page, 4C > cents 
^ rates for three, six and twelvemonths. 'Notices In editorial 
columns, 60 cents per line. 
Advertisements should bs sent In by Saturday of each week, If pos- 
81 AU transient advertisements must be accompanied with the money 
or they will not be Inserted. 
No advertisement or business notice of an Unmoral character will be 
received on any terms. 
• • Any publisher Inserting onr prospectus as above one time, with 
brief editorial notice calUng attention thereto, and sending marked copy 
to us, will receive the Forest and Stream for one year. 
wns, the intention of the donor. Did he gauge his gift by 
our supposed appcti.es, by our capacity, or by the number o 
employees in the office ? There was little tune for con ecture or 
consideralion. The weather was warm, and the next day 
Sunday. Something had to be done at once-aclivo meas 
ures must be taken. We counted noses all around and 
allotted a pair of rabbits (hares) to each person. This dis 
posed of twelve. Seventy-eight remained. Then we sum- 
moned the printers, and they reduced the pile to axty-two. 
Fourteen men began to pile out of the office with fourteen 
pairs of hares. Pedestrians in the street stopped and stared in 
wonderment at the long procession. They observed .Out • l 
was fur to the end of it. Some of them intimated that Uiere 
was a sort of distribution for the poor going on, and proposed 
to take a hand in. Meanwhile a note was dispatched in haste 
to the Astor House, tendering the balance of the lot to pro- 
prietor Dam, but he didn’t accept worth a Dam ; that is, he 
declined it. Then a tender was made to the driver of the As- 
tor House coaches. There were ten drivers. They took. A cab 
was at once driven down to the office, and loaded with 
twenty more pairs, and yet the pile which remained seemed 
little reduced. What was only a quandary at first, became a 
dilemma. As a last resort, a messenger was hurried oil to 
Knapp & Van Nostrand, of Washington Market, who were 
persuaded to take the balance of the lot. 
In conclusion, if any more of our correspondents wish to 
inquire where to find good rabbit hunting, we will reform 
them that these came from Maine, where we presume there 
are a few more left of the same sort. 
THE GRASSHOPPER NO LONGER A 
BURDEN. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1S78. 
To Correspondents. 
All communications whatever, intended for publication, must be ac- 
companied wltb real name of tbe writer as a guaranty of good faith 
and be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Compant. 
Names will not be published If objection be made. No anonymous con- 
tributions will be regarded. 
We cannot promise to return rejected manuscripts. 
Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are urged to favor ns with brief 
notes of their movements and transactions. 
Nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that may 
not be read with propriety In the home circle. 
We cannot be responsible for dereliction of the mall service if money 
remitted to ns is lost. No person whatever Is authorized to collect 
money for us unless he can show authentic credentials from one of the 
undersigned. We have no Philadelphia agent. 
tr- Trade supplied by American News Company. 
CHARLES HALLOCK, Editor. 
8. H. TURRILL, Chicago, 
T. C. BANKS, 
Business Manager. 
Western Manager. 
Deb Waidmann and Deb Jagdzbitung.— In our last issue 
we inadvertently stated that Fr. Von Ivernois was editor of 
Der Waidmann , of Prussia. We should have said of Der 
Jagdzdtung. Formerly he was the editor of Der Waidmann, 
but that popular journal is now in charge of Schmedeberg. 
A Rare Bit of Fun. —The chiefs, lieutenants, and under- 
strappers of the Forest and Btbbam were somewhat discon- 
certed last Saturday by the arrival of a large box at the office. 
It was late in the afternoon and the weather warm, aDd as the 
box had a sort of musty odor, as if it had come from foreign 
parts and been a good while from home, it was determined to 
open it before it got dark. It was a dry-goods box, and as tbe 
top was pried off, a board at a time, tbe odor became stronger 
and more defined, suggestive of a furrier’s garret in summer 
time. In fact it had a sort of Injin smell -, kind of like a bale 
of buffalo robes. Presently something of a dirty gray color 
came in sight— and at once it became obvious that the box 
contained gray rabbits, or, more properly speaking, bares, tbe 
Lepus canadensU. Nay, more, it was filled with them. Tbe 
boys lilted them out by the hind legs, two at a time, until they 
lifted out 90— ninety rabbits! They piled them up on the 
floor, and they made a stack Ijigber than tbe table. It was 
something like the stack of black cats we read of, only the 
color was different. Well, they were a fair lot, in fair condi- 
tion ; jiu-t ripe for being jugged (our EDglish readers know 
what jugged hare is). So many gray rabbits wc never saw 
before— not iD our office. A little perplexity arose in tbe case. 
We remembered having received a postal card advising us to 
lookout for hires — “about this time." — although it was not 
quite March yet. (You’ve all heard of March hares?) 
As we often receive little presents of game — ft brace of ducks, 
or a dozen of quail or the like of that— it did not surprise us 
that rabbits should have been sent by way of a change ; but 
we haidly expected so large a consignment. ^The problem 
While the advent of the grasshopper is regarded with dread 
in almost all parts of the West, there is one section and people 
in that land which await the coming of the predacious hosts 
with eagerness, based upon the hope of existence. To the farm- 
ers and ranchmen a grasshopper season means starvation ; to 
the people we speak of it brings plenitude and abundant stores 
of food. In Northwestern Idaho, and along the eastern boun- 
dary of Washington Territory, upon the Lewis Fork of the 
Columbia River, roam the Nez Perces Indians ; not Chief 
Joseph’s band, but another branch of tbe same great nation, 
who differ from their warlike brothers who have lately given 
Uncle Sam so much trouble in several important points, aDd 
id none more conspicuously than in that of hunting. The par- 
ticular tribe of Nez Perces who occupy the region referred to 
seem to be cut off from all other Indians by their peculiar and 
almost disgusting method of obtaining food, from which they 
have derived their distinguishing name of Diggers. 
In certain parts of South America, in Brazil and Patagonia, 
there are races of men known as Diggers, so-called because 
they live upon rootsand wild herbs which they dig from the 
earth ; but the name, as applied to the Indians of the North- 
west. arises from an entirely different custom. 
These Nez Perces of the Lewis Fork country live upon 
grasshoppers. Grasshoppers raw, stewed and fried in sum- 
mer • grasshoppers dried and made into soup in the autumn ; 
grasshoppers ground and baked into bread or cakes in the 
winter; and too often, from a lac t of provisions, grasshopper 
memories in the spring, until the warming sun brings again 
their winged game to save them from starvation. 
But it is not their habit of eating the grasshopper, but their 
mode of capture, which has given them their name. Early in 
June, tbe Indians select some open prairie well covered with 
grass’ and dig a trench, half a mile in length, some six feet 
wide and three deep. Along one side of this they collect great 
heaps of dry grass, mesquite and sage bush branches, and 
having arranged their trap, they await tbe comiDg of their 
victims. As soon as the insects arrive, covering the entire 
country in countless swarms, the Indians, with their horses, 
post themselves upon the prairie some thirty rods apart, 
parallel with, but upon the opposite side of the ditch from the 
dried brush, and a mile or more distant therefrom. Then tyiDg 
lariats or long hide ropes between their ponies, one end to one 
Bnd the other end to another, and allowing the slack to trail 
along the ground between them, they slowly ride toward the 
trench. 
The grasshoppers, slowly and with short flights, are 
driven before them, until, as they advance, the air becomes 
black with the flying cloud, and the long ditch is reached. 
Millions of the insectsspring into it, millions more follow— the 
hole is full ; then up rush the squaws of the band, who have 
been waiting near ; they seize the brush and dry wood and 
throw it upon the struggling mass, preventing escape; at 
either end fire is set, and as the hot flames run crackling to 
meet each other the grasshoppers are roasted to death. 
The Indians then empty the dit£h, eat such portion of their 
strange food as they desire, grind other portions of it between 
great stones, and pack it as meal or flour in buckskin bags for 
winter use ; and, waiting a day or two, until the prairie is 
again covered with the insect army, repeat tbe operation- 
This goes on through all the summer season until the chill 
blasts of autumu drive the Indians lo the mountains aud kill 
the grasshopper host ; ond it is from such a strange custom 
that this tribe of Nez Perces are to-day known os Diggers. 
F. E. Hamilton. 
<ST Foue6T and Stream will be 6< ct for fractions of a year 
as follbws Six months, $2; three months, $1. To clubs of 
two or more, $3 per annum. 
(FROM OUR SPECIAL TEXAS CORRESPONDENT.) 
ON THE BUFFALO RUN IN TEXAS. 
Third Letter. 
Fort Griffin, Texas. Oct. 8, 18T7. 
I have adhered closely to the projected Uno ot ihe TexM and PaolDc 
Railway lor the past iso miles, aud I Have followed It out for forty 
'^Mr^B.^M^Collyns, Of Tiverton, Fngland, one of the largest and most 
successful sheepmen In Australia during times gone by. waB one of my 
companions, and ho tells me that in the United Stales there is nothing 
uearly equal for sheep rals ng purposes to this portion of the couutry. 
•When It 1 b bo well known that even an Auairallau fool underetands 
more about sheep than does any wise man ea-tor w*t .of the inoat 
flourishing and go-ahead British Colony, the statement of an Anglo- 
Ausirullau capitalist like Mr. Collyns on this subject, carries to my 
^ud more conviction that would that of a, y number of. perhaps, other 
African experts on ,he an . .M» no. air. 
sons v hy Northwest Texas must become the home of the sheep, why It 
has not become so is perhaps more worth studying. A land that will carry 
its flocks all the year round without ariflotal food or shelter, where gruf/i 
m good water fLly abundant, Indians, so far as 
and where water frontages can be purchased at from $1 to *8 per acre 
aud these forever must command enormous ranges behind, I cannot 
understand why the broad road to fortune, so dlfflcullto And, and which 
appears open here, is not availed of more extensively. 
There are sheep-and very healthy, happy-iooklngones-abont here, 
bat they are In small flocks, and have risen to their presen' numbers- 
averagmg one to two thousand In flocks-f.om almost literally nothing 
perhaps twenty sheep, perhaps a hundred. When the lexus-Paciflc 
reaches here it will be a good ueal too late to begin on Bheep especia ly 
If a few men- as Mr. B. M. Collyns told me he thought of doLg—put 
$ 100,000 into this business, which sum lu-re would start, on the PK>'&t 
free ranges, nearly a quarter of a million of Mexican ewes, which 
though they would probably only shear one pound on an Average each 
the urst year, wou d, and do, transmit to their descendants, sued 
by pure Merinos, the capability to average at least four ftouu da of wool 
altcrwards. I will act as private secretary, gratuitously, for twelve 
months to any one who p.oves my siatements. as above, unpractical, 
impracticable, or In any way visionary. 
But at present 1 want to bring my readers with mo on a regular out- 
mg a raage over tue wide, unoccupied plains of Western Texas. I 
want to introduce western garrison life and Indians and b uffalo and 
antelopes to the readers of Forest and Stream as I saw them, *oI 
shall pass along the Texas and Paoillo Road ibai Is to be, having given 
Se strongest Mat I can a* to what .. best to d . at present along It, and 
, n ter the little town of Fort Griffin, whither the fame of this paper had 
somehow preceded me ; for In no other manner can I account for an 
invitation which was at once sent to my hotel— The 8ou hein to the 
effect that* aptaln Lee, loth Cavalry, and Dr. Caldwell. U. S. A., were 
waiting dinner for me at the port. 1 went there, and, save to hunt 
game or statistics, have never since left It, 
Three bnglishmen, with lntioductiouB from Gen. Ord, had been given 
an unoccupied house. Indian -lim, their aoont, was there also. We had 
uve U. 8. A. officers in barrack*, and the breezy height ou whloh Is sit 
uate Fort Griffin, resounded with many a tale of flood and held from 
the English headquarte s, whither we nightly repaired en imam. The 
nearly-tamed i onkawas-fr.endiy lndians-iirst attracted us. Many 
of the braves— enlisted (scout) soldlers-had a camp here; and a gallant 
British officer, one of our party, sot very lalr.y fleeced by .he squaws, 
who sold him the most amazingly worthless Indian worss of art (?) at 
the most amazingly labulona prices; but weoonld not stop him. ami only 
trust that the British army appropriations will prove equal to the 
strain thus put ou them. 
Tne Tockawas wear their old embroidered blankets, bnt In add tion 
the braves affect an old mllliary Jacket, or at least a necklace of military 
buttons ; and one dn^ky belie we saw wearing a dress made out of an 
old stars and stripes— a regular com c picture type of Columbia. 
Now we must get on to the buffalo," we one ulght remarked to Cap- 
tain Lee, who commands the poet. 
Oh,” he said, "my men have to be scouting all the time westward, 
so I will give you on escort.” 
And he did. Eight well set np men, a better set-op Sergeant, by name 
Valentlue— name that so pleasantly recalls Cupid and kissi saud Feb- 
ruary 14. Besides these, we had a Toukawa, christened Johnson, and 
his squaw, not ohrlsteoed, whom we called Mrs. Johnson; a mighty 
big wagon drawn by six mu es, made np our cavalc.de, which Mr. B. 
M Collyns said “ looked rather too much like a Lord Mayors show t>> bo 
busInesi-iUe but Mr. collyns was wrong.and he pioved It by his 
deeds. On through partially broken country we advanced for two days, 
a country abounding with the Boft and nutritious curly aud running 
Mesquite— a sheep's paradise— and which only the buffalo hunter has 
traversed in the wake of a scouting parly of soldiers, or of a Texus- 
Pactflc surveying party. Wo near Fiat Mountain — I, with very sore 
eyes, sticking to tue wagon, Col'yns and his parly rang ng away to the 
aonth— when Sergeant Valentine cries “ Halt," and points out to me 
eighty buffaloes on the trail ahead of us (we stack all tnrouglfclo Col. 
McKlnsey’s trail). The buffaloes were fat and quiet, aud only half a 
mile off. I am rather too heavy for continuous fast r.dtng, so, borrow- 
ing the stoutest horse In the troop, 1 waited behind a knoll while two of 
tae men rude off to head the herd. They did head them, but the wrong 
way, aud when I next saw them they were three miles off. But uow 
the Fates fought against the poor Bison amerieanu*, for ho rushed into 
the arms of the Britisher, Collyns cut off his retreat aud headed him 
b-ck. aud the now terrified herd, In the words of Homer, whlcU Pope 
renders thus : 
•' Pour along like a Ore that sweeps the whole earth before It." 
The galop away from me had prrtlally tired the aiilmuls, and Collyns, 
a graceful rider and a mere featuer-welght, rode tuem down rapidly, 
his Smith & Wesson dealing destruction right and left. He rarey killed 
right off, but his mortally wounded victim staggered, fell, and was 
polished off by the pursuing troupers who endeavored but lu vuin lo 
head the plucky little Australian capitalist. Five mousters and a well- 
grown calf marked his victorious path. The tide of war did not roll 
my way, bat from a commanding hill I, as your war correspondent, 
chronicled the fray. Two efforts, Indeed, I made to urge my Pegasus 
to abandon his line of strict neutradty, but no! he hated the buffalo 
wlih a mortal aversion, and, for the moment, had the brme belonged to 
me Instead of to the War Department, blv days would have been num- 
bered. The scattered bands have now departed form our sight, bnt 
visions of br« led hump, buffalo tongue— that delicious morsel— and 
buffalo heurt, floated before our hungry eyes, so we uskoi sergeant 
Valentine to march the men over the llcld of bat.lo, aud again, to quote 
Fo,.e’a Homer, 
“ Tlioy strip the smoking hide, 
The beast they quarter and the Joints divide.” 
Ilavlng eaten a late but delicious repast, we quaff In our military lent 
the Juice of tne Bourbou g.ape of Kentucky [that sounds quite cUs>l- 
cal, yet conveys my hidden meaning], and, lator ou, wo droam that the 
Texas PaolOo train Is miming over us, which, so far as our camping 
ground Is concorued, may soon come true, 8. Nuoknt Towns* n'p 
