% 
Vol. VI No. 20 . 
New 8erie»— No. 103. 
TENN. STATE SPORTSMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
The Cup to be given by Rod and Gun at the Tourna- 
ment to be held at Memphis in October, has been ap- 
propriated by the Directors to the winner of the Field 
Trial Puppy Stakes, “ for setter and pointer pups un- 
der eighteen months, for champion pup of America ; 
$15 entrance ; $150 in cash and cup to first ; $100 to 
second ; $50 to third. We give a cut of the cup for 
the information of all whom it may concern. Turf, 
Field and Farm also give a cup for winner in Field Trial 
for Braces ; Forest and Stream a cup to winner of Field 
Trial for setters and pointers. 
The Rod and Gun Cup has been designed and mod- 
eled expressly for this reason by Messrs. Simpson, 
Hall, Miller & Co., 676 Broadway, N. Y. The surface 
is burnished, the enrichments frosted, the animals and 
animal heads are all modeled from nature, excepting, of 
course, the winged horses, the heads of which are bor- 
rowed from the Greek. The cup is 21 inches high, and 
we hope the winner will feel that, as a work of art, it 
is worthy of the occasion. 
The Long Island Poultry Association, recently organ- 
ized, will have a show at the skating rink, Brooklyn, 
commencing November 80. It is expected that the 
show of fancy and breeding dogs will be the best hith- 
erto held in America. For particulars, entries, etc., 
communications may be addressed to Mr. Thomas 
Smith, Secretary, Stony Brook, L. I. 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 2B, 1876. 
“ RUNNING A TURTLE IN EXUMA SOUND.” 
Listen, O followers of the chaste Diana, and give ear, 
disciple of the sainted Walton! Rest on your oars, 
Palinurus of the nineteenth century, and let even the 
bUise frequenter of the Newmarket and Jerome attend 
as I plume my gray goose quill to tell of the chase — not 
of the lordly buck lager, Nimrod, though the eye and 
han^ need be none the less sure. Though we “go 
a-fishing,” yet rod, line, hook and net, will not be 
needed. We shall pull a hard race, too, but against an 
invisible competitor, and over a course that would 
drive coxswain, as bow-oar, to the asylum; and though 
to most of us a steeple-chase with neither horse, turf or 
hurdle would seem to mock the august old party who 
declares, with all the unction of prophecy, that there is 
“ nothing new under the sun,” yet methinks I have 
seen such an one, in which Gaffney or Donohue would 
hardly dare to compete. 
I don’t deny that I have propounded quite a liberal 
dose of conundrums, gentle reader, yet I do disclaim 
relationship with Ananias, or Sapphira, his wife. Nor 
do I even blush to think that all the above relates to 
the meek and stolid chelonian, yclept green turtle, on 
which perchance you may have dined to-day, or pitied 
as he lay supinely puffing inthe sun till aldermanic appe- 
tites should demand satisfaction in offerings of calipash 
and calipee. 
Look on the map, following the coast of your glorious 
country, till you reach the mouth of the great river of 
Florida. To the south and east observe the crescent 
group of islands, known, or rather unknown, as the 
Bahamas. 
Commencing at Nassau, thread your way among the 
“dust of continents” until you come to one rejoicing 
in the name of Great Exuma, at whose western extrem- 
ity you will notice a spot of land, small by name and 
nature, having its five-mile length dignified by the name 
of Little Exuma. There I pitched my moving tent for 
nine months of 1867, alone so far as Caucasian society 
was concerned . A very Crusoe, with not only Friday, 
but Monday and January for henchmen, to say nothing 
of June and Christmas. Months they were, crowded 
with instructive experiences, and flooded to-day with 
those memories so dear to us all — of hours with line 
and gaff, and cool, purple day-breaks, when the crash 
of the breech-loader proclaimed science on the war 
path, and added luscious snipe or ducks to the daily 
piece de resistance; of hog and hominy, giving yonr old 
Spanish cook a chance to “ throw himself ” in a stew 
that practice or a cast-iron digestive apparatus, with 
case-hardened approaches, alone could master. Pleasant 
memories cluster round my old “tabby-work” cottage 
in its grove of leaves, and although I may not be getting 
to business very rapidly, I cannot conscientiously omit 
to urge our enterprising sportsmen to vaiy^ their experi- 
ence by a trip to the “ out-islands,” feeling sure that in 
point of economy and novelty of effect, they will be 
amply repaid, and, perchance, return to thank me, 
who, through our mutual friend, R. and G., am at their 
service with whatever information I may possess. 
It was but just day when we gathered on the beach 
for our first “turtle-run,” My black, double-headed 
whale boat rocked quietly just outside the surf, and as 
I look for her crew I see Solomon, black as night, with 
the build of Hercules, faithful and honest as steel. 
Nicholas, tawny and treacherous from his Spanish 
cross, but lithe and sinewy as a tiger-cat, and in whose 
hands a knife at ten paces means nearly certain death to 
his victim. Jim, good natured, and the best swimmer 
and diver of a people who own no superior, even the 
Kanaka himself. “ Big Bill,” six feet and over, with a 
perpetual grin distending a mouth which bears no mean 
J Established A. D. 1871. 
I 84.00 a year, lOc. a copy. 
resemblance to the entrance to Greenwood. Fortune 
and January complete the motive power, while last, but 
not least, “Old Heaven, “bent, but not broken” by 
the four score and ten he claimed, crouches over the 
long steering oar, with which he knows so well how to 
make the boat recognize her master, and on which 
mainly our success depends as we shall see. 
Seven gourds (of raw Jamaica), instead of spinging up 
in a night as did old Jonah’s, ran down in the morning 
and tuned seven throats, as with a steady even “ swish ” 
the sharp black prow parts the water, with old Solomon 
setting the stroke to their favorite rowing song, 
f (Sirnke.) 
R.o j 'WTiat dat bull-dcg growhn’ about? 
(Crew.) 
(Bull-doe, don’t biie me. 
Refbain.— O b, seize him, Tiger, seize him, 
lliill-doe, don’t bite me; 
Bow, wow, wow, wow. 
The ten miles between us and the reef are rapidly 
thrown behind, and as the purple tint of the sea be- 
tokens the pasture of the turtle, the oars rest, ihe surg. 
ing ceases, the gourd circulates once again, shirts are 
laid aside, and Nicholas, in pvris nnturalibus, crouches 
in the bow, while every eye scans the surface of the 
water. 
Ten minutes drag by in silence so deep that the lap- 
ping of the wavelets is painful, when all at once a black, 
round head just rises above the waier a hundred rods 
away, and as quickly disappears in a liitle puff of .<ipri}v. 
Flat on his face, with his eyes fixed on ti e snowy sands 
and purple forests fifty feet below, Nicholas gives the 
word, and “ Old Heaven,” gripping the steering oar 
with an arm of steel, guides the noiseless oars in the 
direction of the quarry. 
The turtle is busy feeding now, and will not probably 
notice us until we are directly over him. Should he, 
however, take the alarm before, we may as well let him 
alone, for we can’t give him an inch of start. Silently 
we steal along, till a hiss from Nicholas stops our way, 
and “ Old Heaven” fixes bis eyes upon him. It seems 
an hour, yet it is but a moment, that we hover over our 
prey, knowing that when he turns to come up for air our 
work will commence, for our success depends upon our 
being able to prevent this, and in every turn and double 
of his course we must be above him, a very “shadow 
of death.” (I may add here that it is difficult to imagine 
the perfect transparency of the Bahama sounds.) 
“Back!” yells Nicholas, and the double-ender darts 
like an arrow in that direction (the negroes rowing 
equally well whether the oar be pushed or pulled.) 
“ Break you backs!” hisses “ Heaven.” “ Steady, you 
Tim! Raise her, Solomon!” and as I look over the side 
I can see a dark shadow flitting like a bird across the 
pure white sand, and I know that this is the decisive 
moment, for if we cannot stop him on his first run we 
never can. 
One hundred, two hundred yards we hold steady, 
when “ Port!” from our guide tells us that we have out- 
paced our fleet competitor, and that he has made his 
first “ double." Again the course is changed, and yet 
again; the tawny, glistening figure in the bow, the five 
diipping athletes in the waist, and the grizzled veteran 
at the helm working with the precision of intelligent 
machinery, while the boat seems aglow with life and 
quivers under the cracking ash as with excitement. 
Shorter and slower grows each “double,” as the supply 
of oxygen rapidly decreases in the lungs of our quarry 
by reason of his exertions, until “Hold!” comes from 
the bow. “Steady so!” and Nicholas with body erect 
and a foot on either rail measures the lessening distance 
as the exhausted animal rises slowly to the surface. 
Suddenly with a plunge he darts over the side, and a 
glance through the rising bubbles reveals him fastened 
[Continued ok Page 806.] 
0 
