31 
FOREST AMD STREAM. 
this and a boy bad seen that, and their imaginations had con- 
lured up a thousand other things, so that altogether they had 
frightened themselves nearly to death. Now, I knew that 
there really was danger that we might he fired into by In 
dians before morning, and for the next forty-eight hours 
but would you have me say so? Not a bit of it. I assured 
them of our complete safety ; wasn't an Indian within 5,000 
miles; wouldn’t dare shoot if there was; no eud of valiant 
men aboard ready to lay down their lives ; careful watch 
kept, etc. The staterooms had all opened again, and now I 
had an audience not often vouchsafed a man away from home 
It was becoming jolly, and I was administering comfort with 
great unction, when a baby tumbled out of a berth, and there 
was a diversion of attention which brought so strongly into 
view the peculiarities of the situation that my auditors all 
vanished like ghosts at sunrise, and I prudently retreated to 
my neglected pipe. It is very curious that next morning 
every lady I consulted was “sound asleep" at the time, 
“wasn’t afraid,” and had no knowledge whatever of the 
sceance I had attended ! Very curious, wasn’t it ? 
Soon after breakfast the next morning (Monday) we reached 
Fort Peck, our first sight of it showing some Indian bodies on 
stagings ornamenting one bluff, and a perpendicular soldier 
ornamenting another. When the fort itself appeared there 
was little to be teen but a tall stockade, with bastions at the 
corners and some roofs. The gates were open, however, and 
a group of Indians and scarcely less civilized traders were 
standing on the bank. This is an agency for the Yanktonays — 
a band of Sioux— and a part of the Assiniboines It has long 
been occupied as a trading post by one organization or an 
other, but was being abandoned when I was there. The 
river had cut into the bank some hundreds of yards, and is 
still undermining the soil, so that in a few years no ground 
will be left to build upon. The houses arranged around the 
inside of the quadrangle are built of adobe, and are dirty 
things to live in, but that is of small consequence when you 
can sleep out of doors quite as well as in the house, and have 
no careful wife to be worried about dust. The whole centre 
of the fort was occupied by an enormous pile of what looked 
liked bales of hides which bad been eaten through and 
through by worms, or ruined by long exposure. I heard our 
PilgTim groaning to a friend over the waste, and rather en 
joyed his dismay when he found that this was “ pemmican 
not genuine pemmican, but strips of dried buffalo and elk 
meat, which is brought in by the Indians and kept to be re- 
sold to them in the starvation days of midwinter, or used by 
the hunters and soldii is who have to. make long winter jour- 
neys, and can carry food in no other form so condensed. It 
looks anything but eatable corded up here in the dust, but 
can be prepared and cooked so as to be not only highly nu- 
tritious, but very palatable. As for the Pilgrim, when told 
what it was, be forgot his mortification in dilating upon the 
value and utility of this northwestern comestible. 
The Milk River comes in here from the uorth, and is the 
most considerable of the northern tributaries of the Missouri. 
I could trace its course for many miles by the groves of cot- 
tonwood along its southern bank, and the steep bluffs upon 
the northern. The Milk River flows from its source near 
Chief Mountain on the boundary line nearly north of Fort 
Benton in an almost due East direction, and enters the Mis- 
souri at such an acute angle that the meadows between the 
two rivers, though less pleasant, are even more extensive than 
those at the mouth of the Mussel-shell. The valleys of the 
Missouri and the Milk are separated from each other by a 
slight watershed, the only considerable heights being the 
Bear’s Paw and the Little Reckips, and north of the Milk the 
came plains country continues, forming an admirable game 
range and a hunting ground for all the Blackfoot and Hidatsa 
Indians, although nominally in the possession of the Gros Ven- 
tres alone. The soil is said to be highlj' cultivable, and large 
settlements are anticipated. 
At Fort Peck lived for many years— and died in 1873 — one 
of the most estimable men that ever upheld he reputation of 
Montana— James Stuart. He was a born leader of men, and 
conducted with the gr< atest skill many of the most difficult 
explorations and prospecting trips which the early settlers 
and gold seekers of Montana engaged in. But he was more 
than a sagacious and intrepid mountaineer and hunter. A 
man of good education and sciemific tastes, he embraced 
every chance to add to his information and improve his knowl- 
edge' of medicine and surgery. Well acquainted with the 
Indians of the region, he was careful to observe and record 
their customs, vocabularies, tribal relations, and everything 
concerning than, and accumulated a great amount of the 
most valuable information. He was beloved and honored 
throughout thq Territory, not only by the whites but by 
Indians. Living a most adventurous life, in constant peril, 
he survived all danger to succumb at last to acute disease. 
He had expressed a desire to be buried in Deer Lodge Valley, 
Montana, and two of his brothers— to one of whom, Mr! 
Granville Stuart, now cashier of the First National Bank in 
Helena, I am greatly indebted— went to bring him home. An 
incident of this trip, which I find in the “Contributions to 
the Historical Society of Montana ” will well illustrate plains 
life. The body was placed in a metallic case, and on Oct. 24, 
1873, the funeral cortege, consistingof the Stuart bi others 
and Dine companions, started from Fort Peck on the weary 
journey of 500 miles. It occupied twelve days, seven of 
them being through the Sioux country. At ODe point in the 
journey sixty Sioux warriors suddenly appeared on the edge 
of a ravine close to them, and recognizing Agent Simmons, 
approached and inquired the meaning of the procession. On 
learning that the coffin contained the body of Po-te-has-ka 
(the Long Beard), each Indian dropped his head, clasped his 
bands and pressed them upon bis mouth, indicating in their 
expressive sign language that a friend was dead. 
Fort Peck fortunately escaped the Indian raid it anticipated 
thanks to the presence of Capt. Murdock’s companies (D 
and I), of the 6lh infantry, who were occupying an extremely 
pretty little canvas town in a cottonwood grove near by 
guarding stores for General Miles, who was looking after 
Bitting Bull, the Sioux, with one eye, and Joseph, the Nez 
Perce, with the other ; but before now it is abandoned. 
Below Milk Biver the water becomes more and more dense 
with mud, the sand bars of increasing frequency and the 
snags innumerable. The hills on either side dwindle so that 
you can see far awny— or could, were it not for the almost 
continuous forest, in which a few varieties of hardwood tree 9 
begin to mingle with the enormous cottonwoods. Everythin!? 
is utterly wild and untouched, nothing, save here and there 
a chopper's ruined hut, or a pile of wood ready for our use, 
or an Indian e body mounted on a staging, out of reach of ani- 
mals, with tattered _ cerements flapping in the breeze, hints 
that men have ever before looked upon this wilderness. The 
ITlf 8 U H dl y 0D ,’, aD ~ d 8 .V D8el we reach Wolf Point and 
stop for Monday nigbt, 750 miles from the source, 2,150 miles 
from the outlet of the noble stream that bears us along. 
For Forestand Stream and Rod and Gun. 
A SQUIRREL STEW IN TENNESSEE. 
I N the month of August, when the cock qunil sits on the 
top rail of the fences, piping his melodious Bob White 
among the corn-covered uplands, and his mate is hidden away 
amid the weed-covered fence corners, busy xvith the cares of 
incubation, and the nimble gray squirrel makes many a fur- 
tive excursion into the cornfields j then it is that the burdened 
Granger of the Southern States, with his crops laid by and 
his cotton hot yet beginning to open, turns his thoughts to 
the enjoyment of a social gathering, with a squirrel stew as 
its principal feature. Accordingly, a day is decided upon, 
the neighbors notified, and all make ready to gnjoy them- 
selves. The place of meeting is always some shady grove 
surrounding a babbling spring or artesian well, and by nine 
or ten o’clock the company have arrived, including the hun- 
ters, who, detailed the day before, have been out since sun- 
rise with shot-gun and small-bore, and now appear well laden 
with their feathery-tailed game. 
The large iron pot, filled with pure water from the well, is 
placed on the fire, and into it are put the squirrels, together 
with tomatoes and okra, while slices of bacon, a few onions, 
salt and red pepper are added for seasoning, and all is left 
under the supervision of a sable attendant, who occasionally 
stirs the slow boiling mixture with a long cedar paddle. 
Near by the carcasses of a lamb or kid and a shoat or two are 
barbecuing over a shallow pit, while some white-headed 
Uncle Tom or “Dan’l" is in attendance and bastes them 
from time to time with a mixture of butter, vinegar and red 
pepper. Near by the company are assembled, some engaged 
in pistol or rifle practice ; others, younger, or, perhaps, more 
energetic, are heating themselves and laying up sore joints 
for the morrow by jumping, running races or pitching horse- 
shoes. Others still may be seen enjoymg a quiet game of 
euchre or set-back seven-up ; while others, more moral or even 
more lazy than these, recline under the shade and talk of 
crops, guns, dogs and horses— while all keep an eye upon the 
fires, where the cooking goes steadily on under the direction 
of some local authority on matters of gastronomy. 
After a while the head cook calls for volunteers to carve 
and scrape corn. The com is reserved until the last, and a 
snort time before the stew is done must be scraped from the 
cob and added to thicken the stew, which, in a short time af- 
terward, is ready to be eaten. The test by which to deter- 
mine whether the stew is done is to see if all the ingredients 
have become totally irrecognizable, for not until then is the 
stew said to be done. In the meantime the barbecue has been 
taken up, carved and placed in large wooden trays, from 
which it is distributed to the wailing guests, who stand 
around rude tables hastily constructed of rough boards. The 
stew is served in bowls, plates, or pans, as may be most con- 
venient, and as it comes steaming from the largo pot — shades 
of Soyer and Oudel what a savory mess it is 1 Sliced toma- 
toes, cucumbers and delicate silver-skinned onions furnish the 
side dishes; loaves of white bread and pans of corn bread 
flank the plates, and the whole is washed down with copious 
draughts of ale and bitter beer. Delicious melons, with thin 
rind and bright red meat, together with juicy peaches and 
purple figs, furnish the dessert, and the whole makes a feast 
that no one who has once enjoyed can ever forget. 
One must be careful not to confound these social gatherings 
with the political barbecue, where rival politicians meet to 
praise themselves and vilify others, and where a noisy, 
though generally good-natured crowd, push and grab over 
tables covered with chunks of underdone or half-burnt sheep 
meat, pork or beef. It is to be regretted that the squirrel 
stew is growing to be a thing of the past— a recollection of 
other days. Alas! the irrepressible freedman, with his rusty 
musket or pot-metal shotgun has well nigh extirpated the en- 
tire race of squirrels. 
The roasting ears grow hard along the wood-lot fences un- 
molested, and the pecan and hickory nut fall only to gladden 
the heart of the grunting hog, while the frisky little quadru- 
ped, whose graceful form and happy chatter used to enliven 
our Southern forests, and whose savory carcass furnished forth 
many an appetizing dish, has become, in most places, as rare 
%s a turkey or a deer. 
Many experiments have been made in adding other vegeta- 
bles to the stew, but it is generally believed that okra, toma- 
toes and corn are all that are needed, while others, though 
they may detract from its merits, can certainly add nothing 
to them. I regret that I cannot give an exact receipt by 
which others may concoct this delicious dish, but my labors 
have been devoted to the decomposition rather than the com- 
position of stews, and my knowledge embraces only a quali- 
tative not a quantitative analysis of their constituents. Per- 
haps this may elicit a good recipe by which denizens of lo- 
calities where Bquirrels are yet to be found may concoct these 
appetizing messes, much to the delight of their palates. It 
has been my good fortune to assist in demolishing many of 
the chef d'aiuvres of cookery, but I have never eaten anything 
with greater relish than a plate of squirrel stew cooked and 
eaten al fresco in the society of the social and warm-hearted 
Southern planters. Will. 
THE FIRST 
SOLES FOR 
WATERS. 
AMERICAN 
np HE preliminary trial of transporting soles across the At- 
lantic having just been made at the most unfavorable 
season of the year, and on bo small a scale owing to the diffi- 
culty of obtaining specimens, that*I had decided to say 
nothing at present about it, contenting myself with a full re- 
port of all connected with it to Prof. Baird, under whose 
orders I acted ; but after hearing all sorts of uncertain rumors 
concerning the expedition, and seeing a notice in a newspaper 
that the “ experiment was a failure," I have thought it best to 
give the facts. Some time ago Mr. J. G. Kidder, of Boston, 
suggested to the Commissioner on Fisheries that it would be 
desirable to introduce this favorite English fish into the waters 
of Massachusetts Bay, and offered to secure the necessary ac- 
commodation for the person in charge, and the tanks on some 
steamer of the Ounard Line. My recent trip to Germany was 
considered as a desirable time to set: if it would be possible to 
transport soles, If not the very best season for procuring them. 
We had no knowledge of their tenacity of life or ability to 
live long in cuds, all of which we possess now, therefore the 
experiment was not, in this sense, a failure. An honored 
tutor of mine, long since dead, used to say: “No properly 
conducted experiment is a failure. We may not succeed in 
all that we undertake, but an experiment undertaken to de- 
cide a point at issue is a success no matter which way the re- 
sults point.” 
I proved that soles could be brought across even in mid- 
winter, and they seem to be easily killed by cold, according 
to the reports of the fishermen, who say that they die in the 
cans or fish-cars at night if there is a frost. Of this I am a 
trifle skeptical, but they do leave the shores for deeper water 
in cold weather, lienee my failure to get specimens in Decem- 
ber from the shrimp netters who fish near the shore. The 
men who catch soles for market go far out at this time of year 
and stay from three to four days, using heavy trawls that take 
an hour to lift and get out again, so they leave them down 
for a whole tide, and when raised the fish are dead in the net, 
or so bruised as to be valueless for transporting. 
I had despaired of getting fish to make the attempt with, 
and had decided to return without them, when Mr. Long, 
Curator of the Southport Aquarium, taking pity on my con- 
dition, gave me the specimens from liis show tanks which he 
will not be able to replace before April or May. On the 3d 
of January I left Liverpool in the Cunard steamer “Siberia” 
with twenty-four soles, and lost three within a day or two 
from bruises. 
I watched them until midnight each day, aerating the water 
every three hours, and turned in, trusting to the sailors to 
give a change of water at 4 a. m. when washing decks, cau- 
tioning them against cold water. They went well until the 
11th (eight days), when all but two were killed by the change 
of water in the morning between the hours of four, when the 
decks were washed, and seven, when I arose. The remaining 
two were safely brought over, and on the morning of the 10th 
deposited on “ Stelwagen Bank,” off Nahant, in eighteen 
fathoms of water. 
The knowledge gained of the habits and seasons, as well as 
the tenacity of fife in limited supplies of water, all of which 
have been faithfully recorded and sent to Professor Baird, to- 
gether with the fact mentioned that two specimens that were 
in a separate can were brought safely in the coldest time of 
year, will be of great value in future transportations of this 
fish on a larger scale. Should that pair of fish escape the all- 
devouring jaws of the cod, it can no longer be said that 
Americans are a 60 leless race. Feed Mather. 
Abstract of the Second Biennial Report of 
the State Fish Commission of Iowa, 
187B-’70, and 1876-'77. 
T HE report of the Iowa Commissioner, Mr. B. F. Shaw, is 
a report of progress in nearly every department of the 
labors of the commission for the past two years. The docu- 
ment is one more indorsement of the continued and nearly 
uniform success of piscicultural undertakings in every por- 
tion of the United States. As the work of the past h&9 been 
largely that of importing migrating fish, the attention of the 
commission during the past season has been devoted to native 
and non -migratory fiBh. The work promising the best results 
is that of taking young fish from the sloughs of the Mississippi 
and planting them in good waters throughout the State. 
During the months of May and June all varieties of bass 
push into these 6loughs to deposit their spawn. As the 
water begins to fall the parent fish retire to deeper water, 
leaving their young in the shoal water, where they are free 
from the rapacity of larger fish. Communication between the 
sloughs and the river is cut off, and the fish are left to perish 
in what are at first small ponds, then mud holes, and finally 
dry land. 
Having received an appropriation for the purpose, the com- 
mission in 1876 equipped a small steamer for fishing in the 
Mississippi, and an aquarium car for the transportation and 
distribution of the young fish. The arrangement of the car 
was very simple, but it answered the purpose admirably. 
Two large tanks, holding each about twelve barrels, were 
placed in one end of the car as high as they could be raieed, 
and firmly fixed in position. A tin conductor, extending (he 
full length of the car, was connected with the tanks by rubber 
hose. Along each side of this conductor was inserted wooden 
faucets, eighteen inches apart. Beneath these the cans con- 
taining the young fish were placed in such a manner that the 
water from the faucets ran into it in a constant stream at one 
end, and ran out of the other end through an opening covered 
with wire cloth. These cans were* four feet long, eighteen 
inches wide, and twelve inches high. The water supply was 
taken into the casks directly from the railroad water-tanks, 
through an opening in the top of the car. To guard against 
accident from lack of water, it was so arranged that after the 
water had been once used it ran into a reservoir beneath the 
car, and by use of a pump and hose could be thrown back into 
the casks for use again as many times as necessary. Air- 
pumps were also provided, but they found no necessity for 
their use. 
The commission received very material assistance from the 
railroad corporations, to whoso liberality the success of the 
work is largely duo. The total number thus distributed was 
319.000, the distribution being made as general and equable as 
possible. The plants comprised black, yellow and striped 
mss, croppies, sunflsh, perch, drum, wall-eyed pike, river 
herring, skip-jackH and minnows. 
The commission would urge the enactment of a stringent 
law protecting the fish of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers 
during the spawning season. The seining as now carried on 
is surely and rapidly depleting these streams. Of Penobscot 
salmon 90,000 eggs were received, successfully hatched and 
distributed in the northwestern part of the State. Only 
about 25,000 California salmon have been distributed, a por- 
tion of these going to private parties. Those previously 
planted are reported as doing well. There are in the hatch- 
iDg-hou6e 800,000 lake-trout eggs, the fry of which are to be 
placed in the lukes of the State. It is hoped to obtain from 
the U. S. Commissioner a large supply of land-locked salmon ; 
ten thousand were duly hatched and disposed of. 
There are few good trout streams in Iowa. It is, however, 
the intention of the commission to have these well stocked, 
toward which 80.000 fry were deposited in suitable streams 
in Jan., 1877. The smaller rivers and creeks arc thought to 
be well adapted to the grayling, and it is proposed to secure a 
