Mr. Horton, is an experienced sportsman ; the other Mr 
Newville, a friend of his from the East, is a mere, novice 
in the noble art of hunting, but is brimming over will* en _ 
thusiasm. After picking their way through narr ow chan- 
nels, fallen tree-tops, lodged drift wood, shallop 8UDl i bars 
heavy reeds and wild rice for about a mile f' ora the S ’ 
they land and go ashore. The ground is W nn ,. 
robed in the luxuriant full-grown vegefatimT nf 
July, looks more like a Ironical ’ tbu last o£ 
Basswood, cottonwood, oak elm mn ? ortbern country, 
trees, some of great ,° 1 ther 
and there an aged monarch, still proud i2 ih 
iis ruLrircd iirm^ nn hitri* ;•» ,1 « * ci in death, brandishes 
us raggcu arms on nigh in defiance of the elements Nlanv 
are festooned with various vines of many 
sip** rasa SBsps&azi ■S&jgr 
nnLunf^f i° f tbe °? e “ grouad consisis of slougb s and 
ponds of all shapes and sizes. Some of these are covered in 
the middle with pond lilies ; nearer the edge the wlfd ric> 
waves its stately head, and along the muddy edge there £ a 
thin giow tli of reeds, which get thicker ns the ground gets 
drier until it merges in the long grass. Others are quite 
open, with low, flat, muddy shores, covered a litllewav 
back with grass or weeds. Decaying logs, tree trunks dead 
brush, and drift wood of every variety lie scattered on all 
hands in charming adaptation for stumbling-blocks 
I-Iow do you expect to find anything in this holf ? r ts 
worse than an East Indian jungle,” says Newville, after /fl- 
owing Horton about fifty yards from the boat. 
He is answered by a heavy beating of wings, mixed with 
a dolorous, long-drawn “ wee-wee-wee-wee," a sudden bam! 
bang ! h°m H s gun, and a couple of splashes in the water • 
and just above the smoke of H’s gun we see a flock of ducks 
wheeling up over the trees that skirt an opening ahead 
‘• Wood-duck!” says H„ with a chuckle o£ satisfaction 
His dog. Spot, is ordered to fetch them, and disappears iii 
the reeds in the direction where they fell. But by the timS 
we reach the opening there is no sign of the dog. There is 
no motion of the reeds or grass to show his whereabouts 
and all is still except the tattoo of numerous woodpeckers 
the jangle of bluejays, the occasional drumming of a ruffed 
grouse, the bark of a squirrel, and the snorting of the Wh- 
pressure steamer on the distant Mississippi. s 
“The old scamp is on a point somewhere,” says H 
They take a few steps ahead, when, with a sudden flirt a 
royal cock clears the top of the reeds and wheels away on 
his swift twittering wing for the brush. As Horton raises 
his gun, bang it goes, , and the bird vanishes into the long 
grass and reeds, leaving a cloud of flue feathers floating 
back on the air. b 
H. turns around in surprise at N. , who stands with his 
whole countenance swamped in a bottomless smile, with 
just the tips of his ears visible on the edges 
“ My first cock !" gurgles in tones of delight from his 
throat, as he reloads his gun. 
The whistle of another cock from nearly the same place 
as H. moves a step or two, calls together N s scattered 
features in such haste that he nearly snaps his tongue in 
two, and bang ! whang ! go both barrels of his gun almost 
before he fairly sees the bird. Away it spins unharmed 
around a narrow point of timber that makes out from the 
main body, with one barrel of H’s gun scattering a cat-tail 
to pieces in its immediate rear, and the other crashing 
through the green leaves of the trees, behind which it 
vanished. 
“ You 8hot entirely too quick, Newville. and demoralized 
me, too,” says H. “ Take it cooler next time.” 
By the time Spot has retrieved the first woodcock and the 
two ducks, Chase, Newville’s dog, is missing. 
“ You must watch him very closely in here. Where did 
you last see him ?" says H. 
“ He went toward that pond there with that rice in it." 
They go there and look, whistle and call in vain. There 
is no sign of Chase, and Spot in plainly seen in another di- 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
431 
or ,ear ' but w " y 0De s °"™“ 
A s wc advance closer the bird in the dog's mouth shows a 
tn ' wb , iz KO two more froiu the weeds and 
o^s toward which the dog’s nose is turned, one twisting ui> 
urough the trees that cover the point, and the other scud- 
ding away for the timber across the opening. Like a flash 
th^firsPnn gUU n° bls 8boulder . going otr as it touches it, and 
the fiist one wilts in his swift career ; theu dropping on one 
V'f £■& “• “'.a- ttaSd 
one, 
un 
rection by the motion of the reeds and grass above him. 
“ Why, here's the rascal right here,” says N. 
Sure enough, not ten yards from where his master stood 
whistling and calling, the tip of his nose is just visible pop- 
ping out of a heavy fringe of grass which surrounds the 
reedy edge of the pond. On an open space on the mud a 
few feet ahead of the nose sits a big woodcock, apparently 
as cool and unconcerned as an iceberg. His lustrous black 
eye is quizzing us with a mild, inquiring expression ; on his 
long bill projecting in front of him fresh mud is plainly 
visible ; the black bands upon his head and the rich rose- 
wood colors of his back look like velvet in the morning 
sun, which is just beginning to strike in there. 
“ Now, Newville, you take first shot ou him, and be cool 
and take good aim before you pull,” says H., starting the 
bird. 
Away goes the cock with a twisting flight, like the thread 
of a screw, over N’s head, with the smoke of his first barrel 
in distressing proximity to bis tail feathers; away he goes 
with a charge from Horton, who was partially blinded by 
the sun and the smoke from his gun, singing harmlessly be- 
low him. Away he goes with his second barrel, making a 
tunnel through the smoke of his first; away he wheels up 
ovor the point of timber, and da r ts down behind it as H’s 
second barrel shivers the tree-tops behind which he disap- 
pears. 
“We’ll look for him. I think 1 hit him,” says H. 
Bpot is soon sent in its direction, while the men take a 
abort cut for the end of the point of timber. 
On the way a cock whips out of some rice by the side of 
them and darts away backward in the direction they have 
Just come. Horton, who has justaccideutally planted one boot 
in about six inches of seductive mud, attempts to wheel sud- 
denly for a shot. The result is not necessary to state. N. 
succeeds iu wheeling and opens his full battery. Result 
alBO unnecessary to state. 
On reaching the point Spot is seen a few yards off braced 
up in Arctic firmness by the side of an old log, overgrown 
with grass and weeds. His tail trembles at the tip like an 
aspen, his four feet are almost together, as if he had just 
gathered himself to spring over the log, and bis head is 
turned short to one side. His whole body is qs motionless 
aud stiff as sculptured marble, qud far handsomer, and his 
eyes are glazed in a stare Qf monumental iraDortance. In 
his mouth sits a woodcock, with head ami long bill sticking 
o.ut from one side, and the mud on the long bill looks just 
like what we saw on a woodcock’s bill a moment ago. Yes, 
it’s the same bird, only winged. He sits in the dog's mouth 
which had in the meantime been sadly distressed bv 
N’smrn 0 °LT Dl 7 8l0r ° powder ,n fr0nt of to nose from 
£ deliver lr0tS in wilb 8miling countenance 
wi»sio!n? r lhe i U9t . cock 113 soon a9 tlie guns are 'oaded- 
starte h “ d , ropped at the report of the guns,' 
shot f 1 hC C ° cks ’ Wluch he feels 8ure b » 8 master 
Dond C coXinimf r tbr0Ugh , :t ldtle belt of timber to another 
squealing huddle of woo°d-du°ck ££ goes off^usuM 
almost before he catches sight of his fame^ but t wo ducte 
iron ewW W h' 11 f ? m bcf0r „ e two more, " ^ 
Jlop into L°Ll a r a Spl “ b a ° d a 
*!S$ iike a sie ™ ** 
“7?, 19 more open than the lust. Besides, it’s eet- 
ting toward the middle of the morning, and the birds will 
wor further back into thicker shade as the L ge/ up 
ESta ,RSr 1 ^ay S 1 H e ££ ?,l d «■<»■ *»«;£ 
"arm m the sue, „„ will g/inSj. the brushf! 
,o^h, S0 , 0n K enl , er on ? of tbe nu merous strips of sapling and 
fe U ! h wblcb ’ instead of the heavy timbe trover 
mnfl? r i 0Und between the ponds aud sloughs. Now the does 
must be more cautious, for the ground is quite bare of grass' 
or weeds. And right well the happy brutes know that^act 
fec V r °^l W ,r dC0Ck d0fiS ' r kn ™ tSei? besieeS pe k 
lectiy. With s ow, even trot they travel to and fro onar 
tenng short and close to their masters. At the faintes’t scent 
wliftK’ aUdd ° not move 011 unt ‘ l tbeytoow positively 
rath ?, r ’ 18 mL Eac b bttle clump of brush of 
3 a a hoS°Smp ? “ PPr0aCk Witk tk0 “ re ot ^ to- 
Presently Chase stiffens and settles down to a rigid x* / • , 
at a fallen tree-top some fifteen yards away. Sdp' 
turning in his beat some thirty yards to one^ sidp P S' JUSt 
into rigid beauty the instant he sees him. As we‘ freezes 
forward a ruffed grouse bustles with obstreper>- „“ ak ® a step 
of the edge of the fallen tree-top, and like £ r h J n u f ? ™ $ °, Ut 
ness vanishes in the thickest brush befor ot < i ark “ 
sportsmen get a chance to break the tbe 
sin. An old cock, likely; for grouse \b „ , a T of , Wlfico p- 
these bottoms, especially in tbe fal 1 ° ft h Q f 5 U u d in 
Chase trots on three or four steps asd breed - , hcr ^ 
like a frozen poker and glisteSfi^v^ fixpT.n' ,7 th luil 
tree-top. Spot, who had canceled , ed on th e same 
at the rising of the grouse agaiD iIld ? r9e m ent of Chase 
posture of graceful beamy. ^ * Wltk his stiffest 
Chase a woodcock with a & dden sSri™/' & 8tep , abead of 
in the thick low fnliatrp - '9 deu 8 Pnng flashes out of sight 
wing careering swiftly upward 6 whistlin g 
ever, for Horton’R upward - B ^t for an instant, how- 
leaves just where ^flSt ifw thP*hS5 rid f‘ e f the tWck 
earth almost o' d qSck v L ^ t? d U returns t0 
“ sl,owcr of de “ d 
ston»^ r J° adlI1 f the guus Chase is for the bird- but he 
nec^r *hnrttr? te f- e , ts t0 . tbe falle Q tree-top and turns his 
• s p°rt to one Side, with one lore foot upraised and tail 
A yiH . w,t b anticipatien. Spot ratifies his opinion aguin 
end w» a he , m 7’ fOF but a few y ardta from wfffflS 
cock was whirls out another, whicih, after a few fear nf 
lin^nf d filgbt ’ d , art8 . off downward at an acute angle to hi 3 
ine of ascent, leaving Horton’s shot singing through the 
tree-tops just above him as he turns, and Newville’s never- 
h Bide b IS demorallziu g caterpillars’ nests and leaves 
few moments more the. strip of timber in which we 
the b8com f e8 nar rower and thicker. On each side we see 
° f a c large pond m tbe open, and almost at the 
Sp< f , square ar °, und into a handsomer piece of 
statuary than sculpture ever dreamed of. Chase, too some 
wS heS yard f ,9 ff > mdorses him and stands like a rock 
with head toward him. As we go up to* Spot two w'histlim? 
brown streaks flash up from the ground and take opposite 
directions. One is tripped in its whizj.ing course beloro it 
Hn t finn t t° f S1 ^ bt ’ and ’ alm °st before it touches the ground 
his second barrel on the other’s track. Dimly,' 
by the eye of faith, he seems to see W.bat cannot bo seen 
m \ b au cye of mlu . ltion . be sees that his gun lies 
. dlrectI0U i instantly, with automatic finger, he pulls j 
the trigger, and down through the open place near the 
ground comes down the swift cur-jering beauty. A fine J 
double shot that, Mr. H. A delav of.’ a quarter of a second 
and both would have been safe. oi a secona 
‘‘But look at Chase! Is lie still ratifying Spot?” sa--', H 
Look rather at bpot and tell why lie still j3 > 
point,” answers N. Y K ^ jps bis 
No. His head is now turned toward Chase a- .a , ■ 
gazing stiffly at the other. ’ a ad eac b is 
A careful search between them reveals no b-V/i i 
:r4 wiDgia toward tbe ° ther io ° king boi a p d z s 
c o ;S a o t f. m affi f bM y ’” MrSH - deemed quite 
p Fi - 1 « lk » 
Chase did not drop to shot as usual h»t A 
standing. Bpot did not know he w.af backine hfm an^ 
catching sight of him then for the first tim e S m S 
urally thoQght he was on an independent point, knd backed 
him Chase seeingSpot do this, thought be had stfll another 
bird here, and continued his first lacking. So they were 
only backing each other, aud might have starved each oTher 
to death if we had not been here. er 
The shooting now becomes much more exciting. 8o 
many birds have run into this strip of brush from the reedv 
shores of the adjoining ponds that one of the dogs is Tn a 
point, or backing the other nearly aU the time. The cork 
fly, too, in all sorts ot ways. They are all full-grown 
now, strong and active of wing, and know right well how 
to use it. Here one wheels suddenly out ot the outer 
edge of the brush, twists away upward to the level of 
the tree-tops, and scuds away over them; another bounces 
faifi 
on 
t Abb 
Ina i 
horizontal course through, some aveiuic in the brush seen 
feefn^th* . 8omo . ,lirt U P before the men get within twenty 
T»?!, h i B d °P an J? van ! 811 like a mwU-or in tho dark nivht 
of underbrush. Bometin? ,es only n brown streak can bo 
siteh iS° c iiS e1, out of reach bofbre the 8taritod ey ° can 
hA B ^i t k?^ n< J oe8 ,. prett - v wel1 d «pit» ‘be difficulties. Now 
S , 1 ^ ip8 tbo Whistling wii ig with a si lot of amazing quick- 
to tea 1 fro “ the ground; now he seeuis 
foreThe 80an . d « f a wing th at vanished almost be- 
or nofuntn ti?. / Cl Ch d L ’ n , nd knowa ' not whether he hit it 
Somes r,T dg ; 8e 1 u * t l00k in tb.e direction of its flight, 
J W '■ aometiones he catches a bird 
ewStofoniw^ ly 0u ; ot 8i 5bt just as it crosses a 
times dronnlnTnn 8 lbl ^ u or f ° rty i ,ards awa J’. a " d «ome- 
ouTof ffls slim ° ne i -“T 1 be 8n aps a bild lha t bas got 
”* Meo * “ ge,s “ yar<1 
^ e . w y llla * i've got <>no»'gh sport ifor to-day ” savs II as 
phr P 2 Tw^nt tWentie . lb ‘ “ 1 novar believe in playing 
—MW -port £r y „„? 
we°TmJ boat -. iu adlfl ««nt course from which 
menS“o ’tarrv ! "1°° H y,eW lo weighty induce- 
iuenu to tarry. In a shoi ttune we are g liding swiftly clown 
rime 7 o?te n ?°K Ugh - for hoQiC ’ wbl ^ we wTSZ 
thT f°n di r r ’ baV , mg b ’ *“ ab8eut > ft* >m the house less 
been , “ rs * of wh 'c b time hilly one-third will have 
inr Hn C °“ ,Dg ° r 8 * ““K- Not cffoiiic as good slioot- 
mfmSrv h bfv: “ T old " fafwic k Woo. Hands of blessed 
by g° noda afforded; but good enough 
are 1 !“ ' b « 0 U J g ’ a , ud f ’ v bottcl tban what thousands 
JJJoi “ fle A wllh ’ e; wept ,b ose ,4?w select spirits 
immense w??, n °i b w Cbmfor ted un *e 811 they can surpass the 
immense bags made by some . )ther sv /Ine. 
[To be Go ntinued '.] 
SPORT AND BUSI NESi S IN TEM AS. 
^ yr - ,| ing physician, who \ /ent fronr Brooklyn to Texas 
ta8t spring, writes as follows; 
„ „ Mbxu . Juno 10, 1878. 
Editor Forest xnd Strkxt l . 
I have been shown every nindneas and at teutlon since my 
arrival here. They thiuk I utu eomothiD* wonderful, as I 
never drink, smoke nor chow tobacco, whi ch. • nH y°u proba- 
bly know, are tho three requisites of a rep rev ’Utatlve Texan. 
I have a number of horses at my die posal when I want to do 
any riding, and, as for hospitality q cun ^ I aui nover 
at a loss for that. There is an Organized TOu ‘V bunt, on 
which a number oi the most itr fluentinl men of Mexin go, 
“^ g ten ^y 8 »o two wee' C8> mu i consisting of bom 
ten to fifteen men and as many horses, toeelher w*ti 1 supply 
wagons and dogs, and all the neceSry KphernaL a 
Mtwood’« bunt. .On this I was invi^T utteuA aud 
from the card it gives a man I contlderod myself fortoc ,ale * 
m« ( inpH Cepted ' 1 Went ofI oa tbe Trinity River aM ru ' 
d^r Rnd P n T ard ,° f tW ° ? eeks 0u lhe bunt we ku£d^Sl» ot 
S^mi d ^u 1081 ©yerytlii ug in the shape or game. We ‘ e 
^Sfstffl W , ° lV,;8 ' and l went g out one fflght 
“X?* 1 : 8tdl bunung for d cei , and much lo my surprise 8 earn 
paat ,b er8 ’ but i .ucs^eded in getting away 
ztsis. kd! 
SSe withnnf 8ma11 Capil * J! ' but I should not advisS a unmT 
=H W L tb ° Ut ® is a 8carcc commodity here. I 
,n|,f 0 guarantee to doubfc 3 u thousand dollars every year 
There are inducements here such as I never saw bv 
^y country in the worid 1 or safe investment I have rome 
Svth 1 nfTf D ?eS the 8bCCI - bu8iuc98 tb ' 8 lull, and 1 would give 
1 coutd K° lth them. They arc going to in- 
‘“ Ck ‘° bU “‘‘" ;S ’ “ lt ' y Wi " b0 ln 
Very sincerely yours, 
DUCK SHOOTim 
Cl AD POND 
John Grant. 
1 OVER AN ART1FI- 
IN MISSISSIPPI. 
Lastsammer I Rad a pond m« do of about tUrco acre* surface, ixi 
ja us in front 'jj my houae. Abo ut tbo flrat of Octobor blue-whig to* . 
C * 8D ~°^plil« la- I built Win da and baited with rice In t*o bun* e 
. v j prevent It sinking ordrli fling off. Tbo teal were followed 
8 “ ¥, -i-blfis, poal-do, and tbe dlffu rent tnergaiaers. I did not dp iturb 
_• mergansers, and th»y atlWd ai i decor* for me all winter. Al) out 
tbe middle of November tJ"v B ftl 'o»rd, greon-wlDg teal, wldgav „ p i n . 
tall and other migrating . Welt* made their appearance la r a0 p 0 nd 
Tdey &u arrived at night or e&rl f ln tUe morning. A u w Woo d- 
dnek# came In, bnt It was too ®P on Ior lDem ' and tBe y wo*^ a 8 oon re- 
turn to the timber. I had Jnat received an English breec/ , -loader 10- 
gange, 33-ln. barrel*, 10 lbs. we cylmUer bore, with r # quantity of 
best powder and Eagiu „ ohllluJ 
Wj new gan, though I gave the duclt* 
Homed to the bUAds. er tcB , followed 
\ere was a largo \tfihx borln tho pond 
commenced on them,' and kept count 
•four, when 1 atopped. from losing the 
business of aboo»’aig .them. I could 
they wero feo^ jln g. <f would some- 
ays, as myq elf j a mlty soon got 
apparently as unconcerned as before. The deep, liquid, 1 straight up iifto the thick foflage and then BkSng Sway'on? 
both brass and paper shell*, th< 
8 and 4, and was anxious to try 
time to And the bait and get aeon 
tho flrst, and within ten days tl 
who had found the bait, f then 
of the number killed up to eighty 
count. I did not make a regular 
stand ln my yard and see where 
times not shoot a dock for ten d 
very tired of dock.) 
I would go down, get behind a 1 
give them one barrel In the wuter a 
it. In shooting teal, tho range was 
was 4 dre. powder, Orange No. 6, ai 
know It Is not usual to shoot any kl 
8lx : I wanted quantity not size. A 
would whistle from the blind ; th. 
their necks to Dud out where the 
them with one barrel and give the 
I got fifteen one morning with bo 
four shots at any one visit to the 
on auy one visit was twenty-six t 
then shot mallard, ebovelorand 
slaughter. During the winter I 
that I saw. One day I was retu 
a very large duck ln the pond. 
>llnd, w alP 
« oca 
ftltdill tin 
td I <4 OZ. 
nd of duck 
s the drat b 
if would si 
noise came 
m tho other 
th barrels. . 
pood. The g 
:al. Along in ] 
yln-tall until I 
killed two re 
mlng from bird 
I attempted to \ 
until they -had huddled, 
er Just as tfuiy got out of 
rty yards, autl my charge 
of No. 8 chlUsid shot. I 
with shot smaller than a 
arrvl was ut their heads I 
a p feeding and stretch 
from, when I would rake 
as soon after as possible. 
I seldom a red more than 
reatest number I killed 
lecomber tho leal left. I 
quit from disgust at the 
d-heads, tho only ones 
hunting (qoall.) I saw 
Id* within range, lie 
