1 »« 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
his monopoly, charges exhorbitant rates of passage from the 
port of Greytown to the inland towns on the lake. Greytown 
was made a free port by the English some years ago. All im- 
port duties to Nicaragua are collected at St. San Carlos at the 
head of the San Juan, and go toward sustaining the general 
government. The duty imposed on all foreign goods entering 
the republic are from 4.5 to 55 per cent., and there is a recip- 
rocal duty between the other States of Ceutrnl America of 4 
per cent. The religion is a liberal Roman Catholic— all mon- 
asteries have been abolished by a voice of the people — and 
there are a number of instances where the priests are married. 
Strangers arriving in the country worship after their own form 
■without fear of molestation. The whole of Nicaragua is a 
grand study for the naturalist, and for a party cf several 
sportsmen no finer or more pleasant place for a few months’ 
vacation could be found in the whole of North America- 
Shkthar-Bozn'ai. 
ON THE LOWER RIO GRANDE. 
TITE MEXICAN METHOD OF HUNTING DEER. 
Y OUR very interesting paper Keeps me informed as to the 
sports in other portions of the laud, and I am constrained 
to give a short sketch of how we do it on the lower Rio Grande. 
The game along the river consists of deer, turkey, ehiacalaca, 
peccary and duck and gcose, with quail of two kinds In the 
hack country. The chapparal, for some ten miles back from 
the river, is very dense, ia some places positively impenetra- 
ble, every bush heavily armed with strong, sharp thorns. Oc- 
casionally one finds an open glade, but they are not frequent. 
Turkey have been quite plenty, and we have had some good 
sport. They are much more shy here than in other parts of 
the State, and we do not make the large bags mentioned by 
“ Bushwhacker ’’—who, by the way, does not locate Fort 
Clark properly. Itj is west, not south, of San Antonio. 
About the middle of January, the moon being full, Lieuten- 
ant W. and I left camp about 7 p. m., to look up some tur- 
keys W. had seen in the afternoon of the same (.day. They 
were supposed to be roosting in a grove of large hackberry 
trees, and when near the spot we separated some fifty yards 
and entered the wood on parallel lines. In the midst of the 
grove is a beautiful grassy dell, devoid of underbrush and 
surrounded by tall trees, their branches heavily hung with 
•rracefully droopiDg'moss. On this moonlit night the scene 
presented was sufficient for Ihe moment to make me forget 
my errand, but I was brought back suddenly to mundane af- 
fairs on perceiving a huge form approaching me from out the 
shadow of a tree. If elephants were to be found in this coun- 
try 1 would have been positive that this was the largest of his 
kind. At first it seemed immense, but ns it came nearer 
dwindled down to a large sized peccary. Raising my carbine 
to fire, I caught sight of another moving object on my right. 
Thinking it better to look to the rear in case I wished to move 
in that direction, lo ! there was another within ten feet. 
Knowing that the squeals of a wounded pig would bring the 
whole herd upon me, I hesitated a moment before firing. 
There was a tree not far off on my left which could be reached 
easily, so selecting the nearest peccary, I fired, executing an 
instant after a “ vault to the rear," in anticipation of a charge; 
but pigey was ‘-very dead,” and the rest scampered off. 
While cleaning and hanging him up I heard the report of W's 
gun followed a moment after by the dullthud of a dead turkey 
as he struck the ground The flock scattered about through 
the wood ; one of the birds alighting on a tree near me was 
soon hanging alongside of the peccary. We hunted diligently, 
but killed no mere birds that night. It is very difficult to dis- 
tinguish them from the bunches of moss. 
The flesh of a youog peccary is very excellent if the animal 
is skinned soon after killing. About the first week in January 
we tried the Mexican method of hunting deer during the rut- 
ting season. Provided with a pair of buck’s antlers, which 
haa been sawn apart, and armed with carbines, we struck out 
through the brush until we came to a small glade in which 
were two or three large mesquile trees. Selecting one easily 
climed, we mounted up, one on either side, sealed ourselves 
comfortably as possible and facing in opposite directions. 
With our huutiDg-knives we clipped off all little twigs that 
might interfere with our gUDS. We were about twenty feet 
from the ground. All around the glade the chapparal was 
quite thick. W. then took the horns, one in each hand, and 
struck them together after the manner of bucks fighting. One 
or two hard clashings together, and then the scraping and 
twisting of tangled horns. After resting a minute this was 
repeated. The sound can be heard a long way off, and, if the 
imitation is perfect, any buck hearing the noise will come up 
on a lun. If he suspects anything wrong he will steal around 
to leeward and come up against the wind. We had been in 
the tree some fifteen minutes when I caught sight of a pair of 
horns moving along above a bush some distance off. A word 
to W., who very quietly dropped the horns and took his gun. 
The buck came on slowly, moving around to leeward and 
stopping occasionally behind a bush. He seemed to see u% 
but aid not connect us with the noise. When about forty 
yards away I covered him, and, as lie came in full view 
from behind a cactus plant, let him have it. 
Hanging him up we went on further, tried a 'number of 
trees, but failed to call up any deer until near evening, when 
a fine young buck came up with a grand rush— mad— full of 
fight. He was within twenty yards of us before he discov- 
ered his mistake, and then it was too late. Four hundred 
and five grains of lead through his heart wa9 more than he 
could stand and live. 
This seems murderous work, taking advantage of the chiv- 
alrous instincts of the animal— shooting hujkflown at the mo- 
ment when he is prepared to do battle against all odds in 
, order to gain favor in the sight of some soft-eyed doe. But it 
is no worse than calling moose or imitating the turkey-hen 
and slowly coaxing the proud old cock-bird within rifle shot. 
Then, too, it is only during the rutting season, which down 
here begins about the 15th of December and ends the 15th of 
January, though the bucks do not shed their horns until the 
latver part of February. Besides, in this part of the country, 
the chapparal is so dense that it is almost an impossibility to 
shoot bucks unless some advantage is taken of them. The 
does do not suffer— they never come up at the call, and the 
number of deer is not materially decreased. As with calling 
the turkey, the imitation must be exact, the hunter must be 
still as death ; the slightest movement in the tree, if detected, 
will send the buck off. I have never heard of the above 
method being tried elsewhere than along the lower Rio Grande. 
Would like to know from the readers of your paper whether 
jt is new to them. 
In the Forest and Stream for January 31st I noticed, , in 
“ Answers to Correspondents," the question as to .whether fl.it 
Carson served during the rebellion. In Justice to . £ 
of a brave man, I wish to say that Kit Caraonwascolonelof 
a New Mexico regiment of volunteers, and, toougli be took 
part in none of the great battles of the war, was ready and 
willing to do his share. “ He also serves who offij^stands 
and waits." 1 
For Forest and, Stream and Hod and Gun. 
HOW A QUAIL SAVED A MAN’S LIFE. 
UNCLE JOHN SMITH, who was one of the 
yj most famous Indian fighters and trappers on the 
plaius of by-gone days, was once saved by a quail. “ Uncle 
John” was .acquainted with almost every creek and canyon 
from the Yellowstone to the Red River, and it was while a 
party was campmg with him one evening in 1808, on lh« 
Washita River, that he related the story in question. Some 
of the party had shot several quail during the day, which had 
been cooked by being spitted on willow twigs over a bed of 
hot coals ; but much to the surprise of all, Uncle John de- 
clined to partake of them, though he had often said he could 
eat anything from dried buffalo hide to a tender antelope 
steak. 
“ Boys,” said he, “ I don’t touch quails. I hain’t touched 
one for nigh twenty-five years. One of the little cusses, 
saved my life once, and I swore then I would starve before I 
would ever eat one, and I have kept that oath ever since, 
though I’ve seen the time when I could ’a killed ’em, when all 
I bad to chaw on war the soles of a pair of greasy mocca- 
sins.” 
Of course, all were anxious to know how the old trapper’s 
life had been saved by so small a bird, and, after supper, 
gathered round the fire to listen to old Uncle John’s story. 
“Well, boys, it war a good many years ago— I think in 
June of 1847—1 was coming in from way up the Powder 
River country whar we’d been trapping, and war on our way 
to Independence with our pelts. There was with me a man 
by the Dame of Thorp, one named Boyd, two more whose 
names I don’t remember, and a nigger wench we had for 
cook. Everything went on all right till we got down on the 
Arkansas, somewhere near Pawnee Rock. The next morning 
before we broke camp, Thorp and Boyd started out for the 
horses, which war picketed a little ways off, and while they 
war gone I seen some buffalo a little off to their right, and 
picked up my rifle to go after one. The grass war pretty tall 
on the bottoms, and I got in easy shooting distance and pulled 
up my rifle to take a shot. Just as I war running my eye 
along the barrel, a quail jumped up from the grass under my 
feet and lit right on the front sight, and, of course, I couldn’t 
get aim. We didn’i shoot reckless in those days, and every 
shot had to count or a man war the laughing stock of bis 
comrades for a month if he missed his game. So I shook 
the little critter off and brought up my rifle again, when the 
durned bird lit right on the same place, and at the same time 
my eyes kind of got hazy, and I couldn't see anything for a 
minute. But when I came to the quail was gone, and right 
in front of where the huffier had stood, and close to Thorp 
and Boyd, ha’f a dozen Injims jumped up and fired at them, 
killing Thorp instantly and wounding Boyd. He and I, 
however, got to camp, and, with the other two men, kept the 
Injuns off, who soon went away. Thorp was, of course, 
scalped and his body left for the wolves, as we couldn't get 
it, because we had to pull out as soon as the iDjuns left. 
Boyd died, and we buried him there. You see, if I had fired 
at the huffier the Injuns would have hid me before I could 
have loaded my rifle again, and as they knew I had not fired, 
they kept at a respectable distance. That quail saved my 
life by interfering with my sights, and that's the reason, boys, 
why I never eat quail.” Georgia. 
MIGRATION OF FISHES.— No. 3. 
BY O. BROWN 
GOODE — BEAD BEFORE THE 
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
AMERICAN FISH 
CONCLUSION FROM STRUCTURE AND KNOWN HABITS OF THE 
• FISH CRITICISED. • 
Professor Hind lays much stress upon the presence of a 
film ” over the eyes of the spring and the autumn mackerel 
and upon their alleged capture in winter in the waters of the 
Dominion, and also quotes arguments for hybernation, based 
upon the resemblance of the mackerel to c the batrachians 
(which are known to be capable of hybernation) in color, and 
upon its resemblance to embryonic forms of other fishes, 
which is supposed to “prove him low in the scale of intelli- 
gence ” (Part I., p. 79). To the latter it is needless to refer. 
The so-called “ film ” on the eye is not peculiar to the mack- 
erel. Many fishes, such as the shad, the alewife, the men- 
haden, the blueflsb, the mullet, the lake whiteflshes, and vari- 
ous cyprimoid fishes, have a thick, tough membrane covering 
the anterior and posterior angles of the orbits, narrowing the 
opening to the form of an ellipse, with a vertical major axis. 
This possibly becomes somewhat more opaque in seasons of 
decreased activity. It has never been observed to cover the 
whole eye. Until the fact has been established that “a skin 
forms over the eye ” in winter, it is quite unnecessary to pro- 
pose the theory that such a skin “ is probably designed topro- 
tect that organ from the attacks of the numerous parasitical 
crustaceans and leaders which infe9t the external portions of 
the bodies of fishes, and are also found internally, as in the 
gills of codfish ’’ (Hind, op. cit., Part II., p. 11.) 
A number of instances are cited to prove that the mackerel 
schools remain on the Dominion coast throughout the winter 
season. If this can be well established it is a very strong ar- 
gument in favor of hybernation. Let us analyze this testi- 
mony. 
Dr. Gilpin is quoted to the effect that, during some seasons, 
they linger on the Nova Scotian coast until December, and 
allusion is made to a mackerel obtained by lnm at Halifax, 
Oct. 27, 1875 (Part I, p. 79.) Mr. John Rue remembers 
that his father used often to speak of mackerel coming on 
shore like squid, with scales on their eyes and alma, about 
Christmas,” about forty years ago (Part I, p. *8.) Mr. 
Jabez Tilley states that they have been taken in November in 
Trinity Bay. Prof. Hind also states tlmt they are to be found 
on the whole coast from Quirpun to Cape Spear during No- 
vember and December, lie gives no authority for this state- 
ment, and it is to be inferred that it is founded upon personal 
observation. Then there is the vague statement of Mr. Am- 
brose already quoted, that mackerel have, teen, 9peared on 
muddy bottoms under the ice. 
Now, this testimony doe9 not, by any means, tend to prove 
that the mackerel remain near the coast in winter. In the 
first place, there is no satisfactory proof of their occurrence 
later than Oct. 25, since that is the only evidence fortified by 
a memorandum of date, and the memories of fishermen are 
not more certain than those of other men. In the second 
place it is not impossible that mackerel linger in these waters 
until November, or even December, in the case of a warm 
autumn. The temperature necessary for the menhaden can- 
not be many degrees below 50 deg., while the mackerel ap- 
pears to eudure a temperature of 40 deg. or less. Menhaden 
{inner in Maine waters till November, and in Massachusetts 
Bay and the Vineyard Sound till December. 
Finally, the undoubted capture of many individuals in win- 
ter on the coast of Newfoundland, would, by no means, prove 
that the great school were there throughout the season. Dis- 
abled, blind or diseased individuals would naturally he unable 
to accompany the departing school. Such fish would natu- 
rally grovel on the bottom in a helpless state, and might easily 
become impaled on the eel-spears, or might occasionally be 
accidentally detained. Mr. Peter Sinclair, a well-known fish- 
erman of Gloucester, stated to Prof. Baird that, some years 
ago a school of mackerel were detained all winter in a small 
river in Nova Scotia and were speared out of the mud. This 
is, doubtless, hearsay testimony, and is given for wbat it is 
worth. I do not doubt that there have been individual cases 
of this kind, but I maintain that no generalization should be 
founded upon them. , 
The preceding paragraph is devoted to the refutation of the 
idea that sea-fish hybemate. This is regarded as the least 
probable of the three hypotheses stated in paragraph 85. In 
paragraph 84 it is stated that the sea-herring and many other 
fishes have two kinds of migrations, one bathic or from and 
toward the surface, the other littoral or coastwise. Now in 
some species the former is most extended, in others the latter. 
The anadromous species very probably strike directly out to 
sea without coasting to any degree, while others, of which 
the mackerel is a fair type, undoubtedly make extensive coast- 
wise migrations, though their bathic migrations may without 
any inconsistency be quite as good as those of the species 
which range less. Upon this point I cannot do better than to 
quote from a manuscript letter written by Professor Baird to 
the Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, dated July 21, 
1873. Having expressed the views concerning the migration 
of the herring and shad already quoted in paragraph 84, he 
continues : 
“The fish of the mackerel family form an exception to 
this rule. While the herring and shad generally swim low in 
the water, their presence being seldom indicated at the surface, 
the mackerel swim near the surface, sometimes far out to sea, 
and their movements can be readily followed. The North 
American species consists of fish which as certainly, for the 
most part at least, have a migration along our coast northward 
in spring and south in autumn, ns that of the ordinary pleasure 
seeker, and their habit of schooling on the surface of the 
water enables us to determine this fact with great precision. 
* * ♦ Whatever may be the theories of others on this sub- 
ject the American mackerel fisherman knows perfectly well 
that in the spring he will find the school of mm kerel off Cape 
Henry, and that he can follow them northward day by day as 
they move in countless myriads on to the coast of Maine and 
Nova Scotia." 
It is difficult to estimate to what extent the advocates of 
the hybernation theory have been influenced by patriotic mo- 
tives in their efforts to prove that the mackerel remain in the 
waters of the Dominion of Canada throughout the entire year. 
It is certain that all recent treatises on ichthyology by Cana- 
dian writers have appeared in the form of campaign docu- 
ments, apparently intended to influence the decisions of Di- 
plomatic Commissions. 
I am by no means prepared to maintain that mackerel do 
not pass the winter in the American domain of her Imperial 
Majesty. It seems important, however, that the subject of 
the migration of fishes should be restored to its proper posi- 
tion as a question of abstract scientific importance. Let us 
glance at the argument of Mr. Whitcher and Professor Hind 
against what the former is pleased to style the “American 
Th6ory. ,> 
In the report of the Minister of the Marine and Fisheries for 
the year ending the 30th of June, 1871, Mr. TV . F. Whitcher, 
Commissioner of Fisheries, published a paper entitled “Ameri- 
can Theory Regarding the Migration of the ^Mackerel Re- 
futed" (pp. 186-189). 
Mr. Whitcher opeps bi9 letter by claiming that the theory 
of north and south migration wa9 invented solely in support 
of a claim advanced by citizens of the United States to partici- 
pate in the Canadian inshore fisheries. “This ingenious but 
traditional theory of annual migration having gained local 
credency amongst some of the Nova Scotia fishermen engaged 
in United States fishing vessels, has been sagaciously indorsed 
and circulated by American Authors." He also refers to 
evidence “ supposed to have been procured among the fishing 
population of the New England States.” 
I need only say that these claims are unjust, and thatl the 
theory of the annual north and south migration of the mack- 
erel is time honored, and was held conscientiously by ichthy- 
ologists of the United States and the Provinces long before 
the question of fishery treaties assumed its present aspect. It 
is manifestly unfair to state that while the theories which 
prevailed respecting the habits of hei ring aud mackerel were 
formerly similar, that, “in the former case it is probable that 
traditionary and imperfect information formed the basis of 
error, while in the latter instance it ia mo9t probably founded 
on misinformation dictated by sectional interests.” Mr. 
Whitcher's own paper upon migration is the only one ot 
American origin in which I have seen scientific method sacri- 
ficed to partisan spirit. ... 
Having read Mr. Whitcher’s introduction, one might readily 
predict what sort of an argument he will wrench out ot the 
statements of “such disinterested authorities as may be 
readily quoted.” First he gives extracts from Mitchell and 
the Edinburgh Encyclopredia regarding the habits ot tne 
lieriiDg. Granting all that is claimed about the herring, 
