yet the dogs refused to bodge. We threw handfuls of stones 
down without any result, and finally the keeper descended by 
clinging to the tufts of grass and heather. Soon we saw him 
attentively examine a tuft of grass, and then stooping, literal- 
ly boost a bird out with his hand. A quick shot at short 
range made that a very tender bird. Although some black 
game was found we brought but one bird to bag. They are 
very shy, and even when lying well to the dogs are apt to rise 
out of raDge. When a half mile away from a birch covert on 
a side hill, we saw an old black cock fly out and alight upon a 
grassy spot, where we could plainly see him strutting about, 
but we made no attempt to approach him, knowing ft to be 
useless on account of the well known wariness of the old 
cocks and the entire absence of any covert where he had 
alighted. Having occasion to cross a wooded ravine, we 
flushed a woodcock, and it was the subject of some specula- 
tion as to whether this bird had bred on the island or was an 
unusually early arrival from Scandinavia, it being generally 
supposed that woodcock do not breed in Great Britain. A 
few days later, while on a special trip for black game, several 
woodcock were obtained, whose appearance seemed to indi- 
cate that they had bred on the island. 
Our day’s sport terminated in an unfortunate accident. As 
we were descending a hill Mr. S caught his foot in the 
heather in such a way as to be unable to disengage it. His 
leg was so twisted that us he fell it was broken, the tibia snap- 
ping short off about four inches above the ankle joint. We 
were then four miles from home, but fortunately withiu a 
quarter of a mile of a road. I immediately dispatched the 
keeper for assistance, and placed my friend in as comfortable a 
position as possible under the circumstances. Not a tree or 
bush was to be seen within a mile ; hut running down the 
brae to the bum, I there found a stunted birch bush, from 
which, with my pocket kuife, I fashioned some splints, and, 
having set the broken limb, awaited the return of the keeper 
with the cart, mattresses, etc. Upon his arrival my impatient 
atient was earned down to the road and conveyed slowly 
ome to the care of loving hearts and tender hands. As sur- 
gery is not my profession, I am pleased to relate that my pa- 
tient lived to report a speedy ana perfect recovery. 
A brief description ot some of the game birds of Scotland, 
familiar by name to American sportsmen, may be of interest. 
As I write I have before me a beautiful mounted specimen of 
the black cock, standing in a natural erect position fourteen 
inches high. The purple-black plumage, the peculiar form of 
its black tail, of which the three outer feathers (rectrices) each 
side curl outward at the ends, the end of the outermost rectrix 
being two inches at right angles from its shaft, and the very 
gamy appearance of the bird, render it a strikiug object. The 
wiugs are very long for a grouse, being in the specimen be- 
fore me ten and a half inches from the flexure to the tip. The 
black grouse is a very hardy northern species, and I have no 
doubt could be successfully introduced into the United Slates, 
and it would be a desirable addition to our game birds. In 
form it resembles the capercailzie, and I have seen a most 
perfect specimen of a cross between the two species, In fuct, 
this cross has occurred so frequently as to he described as dis- 
tinct species, Tttrao hibridiut, Linn. 
The capercailzie, largest of the grouse family, weighs about 
twelve pounds. The adult black cock weighs four pounds or 
less, the “gray hen ’’ or female of this species being consider- 
ably smaller. The red grouse are smaller than the American 
ruffed grouse, and by the natives of the region in which they 
abound are called “ moor-cocks ” and hens. The “ moor-hen" 
resembles in size and plumage the female Canada grouse 
“Spruce partridge" or “heath-hen." The red grouseis classified 
with the ptarmigans, and there is little difference in the plum- 
age of the sexes. The gray hen or female of the black grouse is 
however, much unlike the male, being of noticeably smaller 
size, is of a dusky brown color, and has a straight tail. Like 
the capercailzies, the black grouse frequent wooded districts 
and perch on trees, but they also frequent the open side hills 
and feed in the heather. The pheasant is so familiar to Ameri- 
cans as a domesticated bird as to need no description in this 
connection. The European wood cock (Scolopax nnticola) is, 
however, a bird not known in America. Some authorities 
state that there are a few authentic instances of stragglers 
having been taken in North America. Several reported in- 
stances have come to my own knowledge, but in each case the 
bird in question proved to be merely a very large American 
woodcock ( Philo/ida minor). 
The Scolopax rusticola is a larger bird, but cannot be identi- 
fied by its weight, which is from twelve to sixteen ounces, 
for the Philohela minor sometimes attains a weight of twelve 
ounces, although the average weight of the latter will not ex- 
ceed seven or eight ounces. The European bird never ac- 
quires the clear red color of the underparts of its American 
cousin, the feathers of the sides and belly being of a dirty 
while, barred with brown. The markings of the heads, backs 
and rectrices or tail feathers of the two birds are very similar. 
One should not depend upon size or color of plumage for 
identification, hut an examination of the wings will at once 
determine the species. 
The whistling that betrays the flight of the American wood- 
cock, and which is so clear on October days when the bird is 
in prime strength and condition, is owiug to the three outer 
feathers of the rapidly-moving wings being very narrow and 
stiff. These three feathers, which would be ornithologically 
described as “first three primaries attenuate," are euch less 
than a quarter of an inch in width, while the remaining wing 
feathers are broad. None of the wing feathers of the 
European woodcock are thus attenuate, and its flight is not 
marked by the loud clear whistle peculiar to the American 
woodcock. In addition to this marked difference, by which 
the birds can be most readily distinguished upon careful ex- 
amination, the measurement from the tip to the flexure or 
11 bend ” of the wing of the American woodcock is about five 
and a quarter inches, but fully two inches greater with the 
European birdi The home of the Scolopax nutkola is 
northern Europe, and notably Scandinaviu, from whence, 
however, it is obliged to migrate in winter to seek a subsist- 
ence not then afforded by its native land. I have alluded to 
the abundance of rabbits in the Isle of Raasay. Owing to 
their presence it <vas found necessary to surround the flower 
garden with a network of wire several feet high and extend- 
ing below the surface of the earth, yet, notwithstanding this 
precaution, bunny would sometimes manage to obtain en- 
trance, and in a single night commit great havoc among the 
rare plants therein. Many of the flower beds were inclosed by 
a novel border of fossil shells, and the basin of a fountain was 
paved with similar fossils, which abound upon a por- 
tion of the shore of Raasay. After a day's sport on the moors, 
how pleasant to sit and watch the lights and shadows on the 
purple liiLls of Skye, and the bright waves beueath ; and 
when the sun is setting, the rabbits and pheasants timidly 
come forth upon the bright green lawn from the groves on 
either side. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Thus I spend iny last eve at Raasay, surrounded by kiud 
friends, whom I must leave ere the sun rises again and wend 
my way southward alone. So now' I bid farewell !— a word 
that hath been and mu9t be a sound to make us linger. At 
the “crack o' day" I board the steamer Ulysdale, en rouU 
[ from Portree to Oban. After an interesting day on a pic- 
turesque coast. I arrive at the latter port, and learn that this 
day is the occasion of the annual “gathering of the clans" 
of Argylshire. In the harbor are no less than sixteen fine 
yachts. Highland games have prevailed throughout the day, 
followed by a ball iu the evening, which is rondered particu- 
larly attractive by the number of highland costumes to be 
seen. Fireworks and music from the yachts, as well as on 
the shore, furnished entertainment for the multitude not 
fortunate enough to gain admittance to the ball. 
The following day I proceeded by steamer to Crinan, thence 
through the Crinan Canal to Ardrishaig, and there boarded 
the steamer for Glasgow. Learning that the steamer 
“ Camel ” would leave Glasgow for Belfast the evening of the 
same day. 1 resolved to stop at Greenock and intercept it en 
route. This I did, and after speuding several hours pleasantly 
in Greenock, bid farewell to the “land o’ cakes and ale" 
and was off for the Emerald Isle. The interesting sail up the 
Clyde ere reaching Greenock, about which so much has been 
written, I will not attempt to describe— 
" Bu» all around us. heauty Infinite, 
And nlstory and old tradition vied 
Which should he minister of most delight, 
And preached from side to s do ; 
'Till Greenock's noisy piers lay on our beam, 
Aud lageage dragged us back to common earth 
And Unger-polatlng porters broke our dream 
Of eali'ug np tho Firth." 
Evkhbtt 8m itii. 
S’fih Ski'It'W 
THE CARP FISHERIES IN THE PEITZ 
LAKES.* 
T HAT “carp in beer" is a favorite dish in Berlin is suf- 
ficiently proved by the fact that about 500,000 pounds 
of this fish are annually consumed in this city. It will there- 
fore not he out of place to give a brief account of the famous 
Peitz Lakes in Lower Lusatia, which mainly supply Berlin 
with carp, and which were well known even in the time of 
Frederick the Great. 
The Ural-Baltic plateau, which includes a portion of Lusatia, 
contains a very large number of lakes and ponds. Of these 
Ihe Peitz Lakes are the most important. These lakes, seventy- 
six in number, aud forming a water area of almost 5,000 acres, 
are a Royal domain, nnd are at present rented to Mr. Tb. 
Berger. They produce a very large number of carp, and the 
annual fishing days in October, especially that of the Devil’s 
Lake, having an area of about 900 acres, form important and 
interesting events, genuine popular holidays, not only for the 
inhabitants of Peilz and the surrounding country and the 
people of the neighboring city of Cottbus, but. because easy of 
access, likewise to many inhabitants of the capital. It must, 
however, be borne in mind that these great fisheries and each 
one of the sixty or seventy thousand carp caught during this 
season have a previous history extending over a period of 
about four years ; for those well-fed, golden-scaled govern- 
ment fish, resembling each other in size and shape as much as 
eggs, have not sprung iuto existence suddenly like tho armed 
men who rose from the dragon seed sowed by Cadmus, but 
it required great work nod care and trouble to develop them 
so far ; and in order to understand all this we shall have to 
become acquainted with the details of this industry and gain 
some entirely new ideas with regard to the carp and its life. 
We here see not a fish rapidly parting the waves with its fins, 
and in undisturbed liberty now diving into the deep, now 
rising to the surface, always timid and flying from the terrible 
fish of prey, hut a well-cared for domestic animal, constancy 
guarded by and accustomed to human beings ; a very peace- 
full, phlegmatic animal, with a predilection for muddy bottoms 
and slow flowing water, growing more comfortable aDd gentle 
in its ways by its “education," which has been going on for 
generations, all this tending to make the fish fat and comfort- 
able lookiug and giving to its flesh a most delicious flavor. The 
life of the carp, which really may be termed a “jolly sort of 
imprisonment,” commences in the hatching-ponds, vary- 
ing in size from one to ten acres, in which as many 
as twenty pair of well-developed milters and spawners 
are placed in spring there to spawn under the genial rays 
of the sun It is characteristic of the slow nature of 
the carp not to do this spawning business at once like 
other fish, and so far all attempts at artificial impreg- 
nation have failed. But if the water during the spawn- 
ing season has been kept at an even height, and the froga 
do not devour too many eggs, young carp are produced in 
great numbers, as they are very prolific, one pair alone pro- 
ducing several hundred thousand egg9, from which, even 
UDder the most unfavorable circumstances, about 25,000 young 
fish may be counted on. During their earliest infancy these 
fish live on infusoria, as their little mouths will not allow any 
other food to pass. The summer goes by, the new year comes 
in, and in spring the little one-year old carp— which at this 
age are very suitable for the parlor aquarium— are placed iu 
larger ponds (generally covering an area of 80 acres each) at 
the rate of 360 to 600 fish per acre. After they have stayed 
in these ponds a year, the flsb (now two years old) are placed 
in still larger ponds (generally covering an area of 400 acres 
each) at the rate of 180 to 360 per acre. After another year 
has passed, the fish (now three years old) are placed in the 
large ponds (generally about 900 acres each) in which they 
• Die Karpfen Dscherel In den PelteerTeichen. From a Berlin dally 
paper. Translated by 1L Jacobson. 
295 
stay another year and reach an average weight of 2J to 8} 
pounds and thus attain ti.eir maturity. 
Loneliness produces melancholy, nnd in order Ibnt the ca-p 
may not lead a too idyllic sort of dream life after leaving 
those ponds where they spout their first two summers, and 
which are absolutely free from fish of prey, quite a largo 
number of other considerably smaller fish, such ns tench, 
eaueiaos, pike, and even perch— which lnivo been specially 
raised for this purpose iu separate ponds— are during the third 
year placed in the same ponds with them. These fish give 
the carp some idea of life in the great world, and by their 
constaut attacks, which, however, are generally harmless 
bring a little life into the quiet society of philosophers, and, 
to some extent, act the part of shepherd dogs But there nre 
other enemies <-f the carp which tend to make the carp live- 
lier, reminding us of those persons in “Gullivov’s Travels’’ 
who had constantly to use rattles to rouse the Liliputhms from 
Iheir day dreams ; aud lln se are otters, herons, wild ducks 
and geese, fish-hawks, and human beings— poachers, who roll 
tho ponds during the night. 
Thus the day of harvest comes at last Three weeks be- 
forehand they begin to lot the water flow off, and tho carps 
gradually gather in the deep ruts or holes of the bottom. On 
the morning of the great fishing day they arc driven into a 
basin about the size of an acre aud about one metro deep. 
This is done by the fishermen, who, armed with purse-nets, 
wade, often with half their bodies in the muddy water, and, 
shouting and ydliug, drive the fish before them. Slowly tho 
great mass of fish comes rolling on, making the water of a 
dark, muddy color, and throwing great quantities of mud- 
like clouds in the air. No one could tell that these are carp, 
for the dark, round bucks, which in Innumerable places be- 
come visible among the seething mud and water, rather re- 
semble eels or similar fish The whole spectacle, which is 
quiet in the beginning, reminding of the driving of a flock of 
geese or a drove of sheep, gradually becomes quite exciting, 
especially toward the end, where from 60,000 to 70,000 pounds 
of carp are crowded together in a narrow space scarcely 
twenty puces square. Two simple nets are nevertheless sufll- 
cienl to close up the two channels leading Into the basin, 
which now resembles a caldron full of boiling mud nnd 
water. In this turmoil the pikes fare worst, for some of the 
carp, which, like tame steers, seem in the last moment, to re- 
member that after all tln-y possess considerable strength of 
muscle, are continually dealing powerful blows with their 
luils, which the sensitive and cowardly pikes cannot stand 
very well, so they cudcavor as much os' possible to crowd Into 
a distant corner. Now, tho fishing itself commences, and a 
number of men with two drag-nets, each holding about 5.000 
pounds of fish, slowly haul that quantity on shore. Here 
everything is activity and bustle. Under an open shed wo 
see a large pair of scales with a lOOlhs. weight. The carp 
ure uninterruptedly brought up from the pond in immense 
buckets, each carried by two stout men, and thrown on 
boards by the side of the scales. Willi lightning like rapidity, 
oue fish after another is seized by men standing there for the 
purpose, counting, “ One. two, three, four • * • " until 
the scales are evenly liuianced. Thirty-onc to thirty-three 
fish generally moke the hundred pounds. The full scule Is 
then immediately seized by two men, whilst an empty oue is 
being filled, nnd the fish are placed in large casks on one or 
the many wagons which hold at a short distance. As soon 
os the three casks, which every wagon holds, are filled, the 
wagon is rapidly driven along the turnpike, near which the 
whole transaction takes place, to the Hammer canal, distant 
about one kilometre (8,280.70!) feet), where the fish are imme- 
diately placed in the holds of boats, which contain water. 
Each of these boats carries 2,500 pounds of fish. 
Thus the curps ore within n few minutes transferred flvo 
times, without having suffered in the least. Near the scales 
stands in his rubber overcoat, u note-book in Ids bund, Mr. 
Fritsche, from Frankfort-on-the-Oder, a well known fidi 
dealer, culled the “carp king," and with Mr. Berger a agent 
calmly notes down the number of fish to every hundred 
pounds, whilst Mr. Berger himself is busy arranging things, 
giving orders, and satisfying tho many prlvote buyers, male 
and female, young and old, farmers and town-people, who 
have came with bags, sacks and baskets to buy single llsli or 
small quantities up to 200 pounds. Mr. Berger also attends 
to the picking out of other fish such as tench, pike, perch, etc 
which have been caught in the net. A large quantity of still 
smaller fish, so-called “ spoonfltdi," because they have to he 
eaten will) a spoou, are likewise brought up in the nets, many 
of them almost mashed by the heavy weight of the carp, and 
dead a few minutes after they have left the water. These are 
thrown in large baskets and ure viewed with cugor^wl longing 
glances by the many poor people standing round, who here, 
for a few cents, might procure more than one good meal, ana 
net Mr. Berger perhaps $2-1 extra. But woe be unto him if 
he should dare to sell these fish tho inexorable police officers 
would at once refer him to a paragraph of the fishery law, ac- 
cording to which these fish dare not be sold, as not having the 
required size. 
Meanwhile the hour of noon comes, and the ardently longed- 
for lunch time, doubly welcome on account of the pouring 
rain and the cold, is fust approaching, and Mr. Berger invites 
his guests to his house near oy ; among them we see, besides 
some landed proprietors from the neighborhood, men of inex- 
haustible good humor nnd unlimited capacity of stomach, the 
well known Lusatian anthropologist and reporter of the Gar - 
t&nlaube, Dr. Veckcnsladt. In the hospitable mansion we 
are regaled with the products of the chase, snipe, ortolans, 
ducks, partridges, etc., and one of the Epicureans present makes 
the remaik, which may be taken to heart by all good house- 
wives, that the flesh of the pike becomes infinitely more deli- 
cious if it has lain in brine for twenty-four hours The fish- 
ermen and drivers ure mcuuwhilc raking their lunch in the 
sheds ueur the ponds, and after a short pause the work begins 
anew until late at night, when about 60,000 pounds of carp 
have passed through the hands of the weighers. As regards 
the further transportation of the carp, which are the property 
of Mr. Fritsche me moment they leave the sculcs, they first 
go to the Schwieloch Lake, reaching it iu five to fourteen days, 
goiog through the Hammer Canals, the Spree aud the Spree- 
wald. The difficulties of their route ure considerable, for the 
water is often so low that the boats have to he placed on 
rollers and conveyed for short distances in this roanuer. Ar- 
rived at the Scbwieloch Luke, the fish arc transferred to larger 
boats, each holding about 10,000 pounds, and, placed in the 
care of reliable persoi s, they go down the Spree to Berlin, 
which place they generally reach after eight days, or they go 
still further to Hamburg, where they arrive after a journey of 
four to five weeks, and other places. The total annual rent 
of the domain iB $12,870; the expenses for salaries, wages, 
wagons, etc., amount to about $7,150, so that Mr. Berger 
must make at least $20,000 just to meet his expenses. But it 
is said that he makes a little more. 
