FOREST AND STREAM 
419 
One day we had started what Holt denominated au “ old 
she one,” the most savage and dangerous animal we bad yet 
encountered. 1 'he time she made through the canebrakes, 
and her off-hand, or off paw, manner of scattering the dogs, 
was, as far as our knowledge extended, without precedent. 
It did not take her lo^g to distance most of the party. This 
excited Ned to a pitch of enthusiasm and determination 
that the occasion demanded, and being mounted on a tough 
old mule, whose hide seemed almost invulnerable, und whose 
endurance was without npparent limit, he soou distanced the 
rest of us, excepting always the indomitable Holt and the 
persevering Walne. This bear had a trick of veering suddenly 
to the left or right very unexpectedly, and < n several occa- 
sions during the day Ned found himself in very close 'prox- 
imity to her in consequence. At last she came to bay in the 
thickest and most impenetrable canebrake she could find, and 
Ned, with ms mule, regardless of cons queuces, made a rush 
to break his way through to get a shot at her. 
He succeeded in reaching a point withiu a few yards of the 
animal, when the otistaclea of further progress proved too 
great, and Ned and his mulcut last fell to the ground, tangled 
ia vines, briars and cane, and neither could rise. The bear, in 
her savage fight with the dogs, was moving nearer and nearer 
to the prosiraie Ned, and soon discovered him With open 
mouth and glowing eye-balls she rii9bed upon him. The 
mighty Nimrod had no weapon at his commaml hut his hunt- 
ing knife, and, drawing it, he struck her full in the mouth. 
The faithful dogs in the meanlime seeing the peril of their 
master, made desperate efforts to attract her attention. But 
not by the dogs, nor by Ned's superhuman efforts was the 
battle finally won ; so at lea9t I am fain to believe. Ned i9 
always silent when pressed on that poiut, but I suspect that 
the mule, simply following his w. ll-known instinct, kicked, 
and that the blow thus delivered discouraged the bear from 
further effort in that direction. I found afterward an indenta- 
tion in the bear’s head that corresponded in^hape to the hoof 
of a mule. This question has never been satisfactorily settled 
in my mind ; but I shall always believe the mule gave the 
decisive shot. Walne came up and liberated the prostrate 
horseman, and Ned's pluck being nowise diminished, he made 
a rush on foot through the cane. Soon the report of his rifle 
was heurd, and on arriving at the spot we found him standing 
over tbe body of his enemy. This animal was the largest 
killed by our party during our hunt, and would turn the scule, 
dressed, al about 400 pounds. 
It is a rule in bear hunting not to shoot deer or other game, 
as it is apt to mislead and demoralize the dogs which are 
trained to follow bear only. It is very difficult to train dogs 
to follow only bear, and but few packs can be found iu this 
region that are serviceable iu this direction. The pure bred 
foxhounds make the best bear dogs, though tome old 
hunters claim that a cross between the foxhound and Scotch 
terrier produce superior ; but terriers are too rash, and are 
Ig almost sure to get killed on their first encounter with bruin. 
* Our hunt was suddenly brought to a sad termination by the 
sickness and subsequent death of our beloved companion, 
Geo P. Walne, by whose invitation we visited the Sunflower 
country. A nobler, more generous type of the old Southern 
planter is seldom met with. How could we remain longer ? 
And, bidding farewell to the best hunting grounds it has ever 
been my fortune to visit, with sad hearts we broke camp and 
- turned our faces homeward. I will say, in conclusion, for the 
V hon&Bfiefljfr if sportsmen, that I have had experience in deer hunt- 
, ‘ l ‘' ing In the Adirondacks, Northern Michigan and Wisconsin, 
Colorado, Southern California and Florida, and hardly think 
the Sunflower region equaled for abundance of this noble 
game, or ease in obtaining it. Deer seem to be as plentiful 
here as in either of the above-mentioned localities, while wild 
turkey and water-fowl abound in great numbers. The steamers 
Fair Play and Sunflower Belle make semi-weekly communi- 
cation between Upper Vicksburg and the Sunflower. Capt. 
Bookoyt, of the former, and Dent, of the latter, are first-class 
sportsmen, and interest themselves in forwarding the wishes 
of all who visit this region. They will leave you anywhere 
you desire, and always make a landing when passing your 
camp to bring or take your mail. 
The climate during the early winter months is superb, hav- 
ing sufficient frost to kill all insects, yet warm enough to make 
campiDg out a pleasure. After January 1 rains are more fre- 
quent and the climate less agreeable. H. L. S. 
LONG ISLAND RESORTS. 
Tub Pkconio Bay Villages — Noyao and North Sea as 
Summer Resorts— Shooting and Fishing Facilities. 
Noyao, L. I., May 25, 1878. 
I have located during summer months at various resorts of 
country visitors, but never have I been in any place which so 
exactly suited me as does the village of Noyac, Long Island, 
situated about four miles northwest of the old town of Sag 
Harbor, in Suffolk County. People go to the country during 
hot weather for divers reasons. Some go out of town be- 
cause “ it's the thing to do, you know." Others, simply for 
healthy relaxation ; others again for sporting purposes ; while 
still others leave town simply to while away time or get lid 
of ennui. Now, when I “get up and get,” as the “sports ’’ 
say, I do so for the purpose of breathing pure air, eating 
fresh food, enjoying menial rest, and especially to take things 
easy. 1 have no notion of going into the country to dress up 
and pay attention to the conventionalities of city life, as some 
people do who go out of town to the fashionable watering 
places ; consequently I seek out retired localities unknown to 
Mrs. Grundy and her crowd— places where I can dress as I 
please, and, in the full sense of the term, take everything 
easy. Hence I have for the past four years selected this self- 
same village of Noyac for such leisure days as I can steal 
away from my desk labors in the city. 
As I said before, I selected that spot because it was out of 
the way of the run of summer tourists. I get up at daylight 
in the morning, put on my blue flannel pants and shirt and 
an old straw hat, aud then am dressed for the day, ready to 
go rowing or fishing, shooting or driving, play croquet or loll 
on the turf beneath the shade— in fact, enjoy my "otium 
cum ” like a sensible fellow. What with the pure air which 
prevails here, invigorating breezes wafted from the Atlantic 
or over the Sound waters, and the clear crystal water which 
rolls on the white, sandy beach ; tbe homestead fare at my 
boarding house and the opportunities afforded for pure frolic 
and enjoyable relaxation — a week or bo of all this makes quite 
a new man of me. , 
But 1 think I hear a reader say, “Tell us all about this place 
you extol so? How do you get there? What does it cost? 
Where do you board and what do you pay ? What kind of 
fishing and shooting is there to be had ?” and so forth. Here, 
therefore, Is my answer to these several pertinent queries. 
You can get to Noyac either by rail or steamboat; that Is, you 
can go to Sag Harbor by the Long lslaud Railroad, fare 
$2 50, or by the hteamer W. W. C’oit, from Pier 25, East 
River, fare $1 50. The trains leave al 8:30 a m. and 4 p. m., 
aud the ride to the Harbor occupies about four hours The 
boat leaves Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5 p. m., aud 
reaches the Harbor at 0 a. m. the next day, passing shelter 
Island, Greenport, etc., a very pleasant sail of a hot day. 
From the Harbor you reach ihe village either by a hack— 
$1 50 — or the boarding bouse proprietor you stay with comes 
for you on due notice of day of arrival. You can get board 
at any of the farmhouses where they take boarders at $7 a 
week or $1 a day. Two of the resiileuts of the village make 
a speciality of boarding, Nathan Pierson and Dr Thomas 
The former has an old homestead, and his good wifo is very 
happy in making her boarders feel at home I)r. Thomas 
has a large and new house, and he is prcpaied to do likewise 
with his gue-ts. Now as to the fishing. In the bays— Noyac 
and Little Peconic Bays, on the shores of which Noyac is 
situated -there are blue fish, king fish and other fish peculiar 
to the eastern waters of the Island. But— these huts arc sail 
things— the fact is the pound nets have played the deuce with 
the good fishing one used to have here, still you can get good 
sport occasionally. Certainly as regards blue fishlug excellent 
sport is to be had in tbe rapid tide waters which run past 
Jessup's Neck— the headland of the promontory which divides 
Noyac Bay from Little Pec >nic Bay. Iu the way of shooting, 
the fact that you cannot pass along the road of a flue morn- 
ing without flushing quail, or through the woods buck of the 
road without starting up partridge or woodcock, speaks 
plainly in this respect. Snipe, too, in season, are fouuil on 
the saudy beach at the shore of Jessup’s Neck and in the little 
Inlets, while duck shooting iu the fall is one of the shooting 
attractions of the locality. But for rowing, sailing and bath-, 
ing facilities this place cannot be beuten by any resort at tbe 
east end of Loug Island, aud as for beauty of scenery and ex- 
tent of prospect it is uuequaled. Just now the place is 
really lovely. The bright greeu foilage, with the combined 
fragrance of the woods and the pure sta air is worth a visit 
only to enjoy for a day or two. But I am trespassing on your 
space, and will avail myself of another column later on in tue 
season to write about North Sea and adjoiniug places. 
Old Sport. 
A BUFFALO HUNT IN THE FOREST 
AND STREAM OFFICE. 
O F course all of the readers of the Forest and Stream 
have gazed upon its cover and noticed an animated and 
exciting representation of a buffalo hunt. The first thing 
in this picture that attracts a Western man's attention is the 
ridiculous position of the sportsman. Examine this picture 
carefully, and you will soon discover that the daring hunter 
is mouulcd on an English saddle ; he is standing up iu tbe 
stirrups, holding the bridle high above tbe horses neck, bis 
right arm crossed over his left, and- is shooting with a bull- 
dog pistol, barrel two inches long. 
In the left-hand corner of the picture is what I suppose to 
be a buffalo skull, but which looks as though it had on spec- 
tacles. I was in the office when the editor received a letter 
from a Southern lady saying that she thought the picture a 
mistake. The look of disgust that overspread the face of Mr. 
Uallock would compare well with the picture under consider- 
ation. 
Then he remarked : “ The idea of writing us a letter say- 
ing that cut is a mistake, when our artist spent one whole 
summer hunting buffalo, and found one old bull; and he 
used to get up early in the morning, and run him until late in 
the afternoon every day for three weeks. The bull lasted 
well, and our artist returned satisfied that ho was capable 
of making a cut for the Forest and Stream." 
The mystery was solved the moment he commenced his 
story about that old bull. I knew at once how it happened. 
The buffalo that this artist hunted is known to every Western 
man on the plains. He lived in our place for many years and 
was known as “the one-eyed buffalo of the Republican.” 
This same old fellow had been hunted from time immemorial, 
and is the identical bull which made “ Buffalo Bill’s ” repu- 
tation. The secret of this picture on the cover of the Forest 
and Stream is, that when the artist saw this old bull stand- 
ing in a c&Dyon he made a rush for him. Cf course he ran 
up on the left side of him, but you can’t fool an old bull, and 
as soon as he heard the artist's wild cry he ran around on the 
other side of the intrepid hunter, so he could see what was 
causing the excitement I 
The moment his one eye rested on the youDg hunter from the 
East, his bull-dog pistol and English saddle, he at once entered 
into the spirit of the chase with a vim, and did his best to 
give the Forest and Stream artist au interesting course of 
instructions in buffalo hunting. Having finished his studies, 
the artist returned home and left this old veteran bull quietly 
ruDningin the valley of the Republican. He was doomed to 
a sad fate however. 
No buffalo could spoil the cover of the Forest and Stream 
withdmpunity. When the Western meD saw that cover they 
one and all swore vengence on the old bull. An oppor- 
tunity soon offered to dispose of him. The Grand Duke 
Alexis came to this country for a buffalo hunt. General 
Sheridan took him in charge and went to the Republican. As 
they were preparing to break camp one morning the old bull 
hove in sight. The command surrounded and drove him into 
a deep canyon where he could not turn round. Bill Reed held 
him by tbe tail until the Grand Duke, with the assistance of 
Sheridan’s command, destroyed him. Dr. W. F. Carver. 
Form and Stream Office, June 20. 
[We are at a loss which to admire the more— the ingenuity 
of the above, or its audacity. To steal into a hostile camp 
and slay the enemy with his ow* sword, is, we believe, a 
perilous and notable exploit in war. What shall we say, then, 
of the man who has crossed a Continent, invaded an editor’s 
sanctum, seated himself at the editor’s desk, and with the 
editor’s pen sought to cast ridicule upon the editor’s own 
paper? The deed is audacious, preposterous, unparalleled, 
uq We have nothing more to say. That noble specimen 
of his bovine race shall remain. He shall sink or swim, live 
or die, survive or perish with this paper, and let no buffalo- 
hunter of the whole North American Continent think to tame 
the fire that still illumines his one eye. — Editor and Artist.] 
•ST FOREST and Stream will be sent for fractions of a year 
as follows : Six months, $2 j three months, $1. To clubs of 
two or more, $ 8 per annum. 
HABITS OF EELS. 
Editor Forest and Stream i 
Mr. Roosevelt, iu your last number, speaking of the habits 
of eels, says the facts are “ that the grown eels go down sin am 
late in the full ; the fry— minuie, semi-transparent, evidently 
just hatched— make their appearance in the spring before their 
parents come out of the mud where they have lain dormant 
during the cold weather, aud the fry go down to the salt 
water almost as soon as hatched, aud that the only fact yet 
unsettled is the time of the return to fresh water." 
Now, the habits of eels iu Mr. Uoosevell'B ponds and the 
habits of the same in the Susquehanna River must differ very 
much if I am correct in what I consider facts, which are that 
the growu eels go down to the bay late in the fall, staying 
there in the warm water all winter. The young, from four to 
six Inches long, make their appearance here ia the spring 
coming up from the bay, keeping close iu to the shore and 
making g<iod time. When the water is clear they appear a 
dark, waving line, from one to several feet in width. These 
fry leave the shore as they increase in size and strength, pene- 
trating to the headwaters of the river and its branches ; 
when returning to the bay in the fall they are about one foot 
long, and are called here the black eel, aud will average two 
ftet long when grown. 
In this river, in my opinion, no eggs would hatch iu the 
spring if deposiied in the fall, owing to the floods anil ice- 
gorges, which even kill growu fish. Furthermore, if they did 
batch after lying all winter, the fry would all appear ut the 
same time, which istiot the case, for they run up at intervals 
all through the spring as they hatch out. 
That young eels when first hatched should drop down with 
tbe streum, 1 think natural, for shad and other fish fry do the 
same. 
When seen here tho eels must be three or four weeks old, 
and steadily fight their way up, overcoming every obstacle ; 
sometimes the belt of eels narrows dowu to a mere line as 
they pass close to the shore to get above a rapid, and then, 
reaching quiet water, spread out and resume their march 
with an instinct which appears as strong iu u little thread of 
life three or four inches long os it ia in a fifty pound salmon 
on his run from the sea 
Tbe fishermen say, and I believe, that the grown eels return 
up the bay and river (and spawn, no doubt) at the same time 
as shad, herring, etc., eating immense quantities of the eggs 
of these fishes, and also attach themselves to the shad and eat 
their way into the eggs. 1hi9 mostly occurs when the shad 
are faat in the gill-nets, but some fish are takeu with tho seine 
in the river that have eels hanging to them. Eels, I think, 
are more destructive to tho shad and herring than uuylhing 
else except the inventions of man. 
There has beeu a great deal said about tho number of young 
shad eaten by black bass, but if they attack the eel fry that 
pass up the river every spring, they will do more good to 
the shad than harm in the end. 
Professor Baird must be right in flndiug spawn ia eelB in 
March, this year especially (if it can he found at all), as the 
water in our bays and rivers was unusually worm for the 
season. 
Just here I wish to say that, having been much interested 
in the articles in your paper on tho connection between the 
movements of sea fishes and the temperature of the water, I 
have noticed its effect ou the sliud in this river, which, being 
broad and full of rapids and falls, chills very quickly, aud a 
sudden cold snap in March or April, after the water is warm 
enough to bring the fish up, makes them immediately drop 
down stream again, as Is proved by the fish dams beginning to 
catch them. This shows how delicate they are to chaugeB of 
temperature. B. T. B. 
June 17, 1878. 
LOOKING AFTER THE FISHWAYS. 
Portland, Mo , Juno 17, 1878. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have Just returned from a professional visit, as engineer, to some 
Osbways in the Eastern part of the Sta c. Maine wl 1 soon leud the 
country in this matter, If, Indeed, she does not already. Salmon retail- 
ing here from ten to Dfteen cents per pound. Maine salmon nrc con- 
sidered of better quality than those from the Domlmon, and command 
higher prices In Boston market. Within a very few years Maine vr .iters 
will afford more varied and Oner Ushlng than can bo fouod elsewhere 
In North America. Already mere la due black bass fishing, land locked 
salmon of two varieties, the largest known trout, pickerel, white and 
yellow perch, etc. In fact, all of there In such abuudance as to afford 
tine sport angling, and there will soon bo good salmon UsblDg with tho 
rod. We expect to build Dve Oshways on tho Kennebec Hlver tho 
present year, and a number upon smaller streams. Salmon were sup- 
posed to have become extinct In the Saco River, bnc a Due ash has t> -en 
i itken there recently, and now the 8aco people sro clamoring for a fish- 
way. Making a specialty of the construction of Dshways, I shall hope 
to receive calls for service In other States as the work und Interest In- 
creases Instead of the loug and expensive trip to Canada for saimoo, 
American sportsmen will soon swarm to more accessible Maine. I ex- 
pect sooa to accompany Mr Stillwell, our enorgetlc Ki-h Commissioner, 
ou a tour of examination of the various falls aod dams of the Kennebec 
River. The mo-t Important of these Is at Augusta. While I was ex- 
amining the great Osh way at Bangor, the water was shat off for a few 
minutes, and salmon aud alewlveB were fonud In the act of going 
through. An efficient warden Iu charge la doing good work by vigi- 
lantly watching and prosecattug poachers who attempt to net fish too 
near tbe dam. S, 
Striped Bass in tue Geneshee River.— Rochester, June 
28.— Mr. Editor: I have been thinking that some of our in- 
land waters could be stocked with the striped bass, and have 
just made a successful attempt to stock the Genessee River 
tributary to Lake Ontario. I had one of my men, Mr. A. W. 
Marks, obtain as maoy fish as he could, take charge of and 
bring them to Rochester for tbe above river. He obtained 
142 bass and succeeded in placing 140 in tho river in fine con- 
dition. This is tbe first attempt, I believe, that has ever been 
made to transport the striped bass alive. The fact, then, is 
established beyond a doubt that bass can be trans|iorted suc- 
cessfully in warm weather. I intend placing more in some 
other of our inland water, and will then await tbe result of 
the experiment. Seth Green. 
