Oct. ii, 1913. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
459 
blue bream, this being a perch of a very beauti¬ 
ful color, mainly blue, weighing on an average 
perhaps three-quarters of a pound. There were 
some yellow perch, of the same general shape 
and weight, and a couple of what they called 
trout, but which in most parts of North Caro¬ 
lina are called chub; really a large-mouthed 
black bass. This one weighed some six pounds. 
One Croatan said he had caught a trout which 
weighed twelve and a half pounds. 
They spoke about their fishing in general, 
and said they sometimes caught what they 
termed the blackfish, frequently spoken of as 
the mudfish, and reaching a weight of from ten 
to eighteen pounds, some three feet long and 
lying on the very bottom of the stream. It is 
a poor sort of a fish, they admit, something like 
the buffalo fish, which is taken in the bayous 
and streams in West Tennessee and that part 
of the country. There is also found in the 
Lumber River a jack or pike which grows to 
a very large size. A special law forbids fish¬ 
ing with nets in this stream. The Croatans said 
that the river is entirely fed by springs, is bor¬ 
dered by cypress and juniper along its whole 
length, never goes dry and generally runs with 
great swiftness. One of their old men spoke 
about this river, its color and its surroundings, 
and said it was very like the rivers in the north¬ 
eastern section of the State from which the 
ancestors of these people came. This is true, 
for the water is remarkably like that in the 
Pasquotank River, for example. When agitated, 
it assumes beautiful tints of brown, with golden 
bubbles. The best time for fishing is when the 
stream is as low as possible, and when the fish 
cannot get out in the fiats at all, though for 
“striking,” the fishermen like to have the water 
somewhat over the flats. Their boats have ex¬ 
tremely light draft and are moved about noise¬ 
lessly, the little paddle being handled often with 
one hand, the canoes being like a cork on the 
water. When “striking,” one man propels the 
canoe with a dainty sort of a feathering stroke 
or motion, while the other man with his iron 
or striker in hand makes a quick stroke when 
he sees his fish, and seldom fails to get it, even 
in a foot of water. Some of the striking irons 
have come down in families for generations. 
These people had in the early days bows 
and arrows, and they also had what no other 
Indians on this continent had so far as I am 
aware, namely cross-bows, and one of these was 
presented as a special mark of favor to Mr. 
McMillan, from whom it is to come to the writer. 
It is of an early English form, though of course 
it was not brought over, but was made here. 
Old men of the tribe say that their people used 
to be very expert with the cross-bow in killing 
deer, bear, turkeys, squirrels and small game in 
general. They also used to shoot fish with bow 
and arrow and now sometimes use the rifle for 
this purpose. Every man has a gun and they 
are great lovers of hunting in every form. At 
certain seasons numbers of white people go into 
their country for fishing. Some experts use the 
fly and other kinds of lure and have extremely 
fine sport. The Lumber River runs through the 
town of Lumberton, then turns into South Caro¬ 
lina and empties into the great Pee Deem, of 
which it is an important confluent. The Croatans 
told me that turkeys used to be very abundant, 
but are now scarce, so much land being cleared. 
1 hese people live in quite a thick-set fash¬ 
ion ; that is, in a relatively small part of Robe¬ 
son county, the area being smaller than that in 
which the Cherokees live in Western North 
Carolina. They have never had any aid from 
the United States, all of it coming from the 
State, and with their recognition in 1887 as a 
separate race they began to receive aid for their 
schools. They do not hold property in common, 
but separately, and white people who live in 
their midst declare that considering the way in 
which they were treated in the years between 
1835 and 1868, by being put in the same category 
with negroes, it is wonderful they have pre¬ 
served their strain so well, for there has been 
practically no amalgamation with negroes. There 
was some intermarriage with whites. Their chief 
trouble has been the too great use of liquor and 
the attitude of white men, often of means, to-, 
ward the Croatan women, who have for many 
a year been considered so attractive. Everything 
has been against them until a comparatively re¬ 
cent period, and they have really done wonders 
in keeping themselves as straight as they have. 
They retain fully as many of their old char¬ 
acteristics as do the Cherokees. Their speech 
is very quaint. Over a score of families among 
them have the same name as Raleigh’s colonists. 
They are very proud of their origin. A photo¬ 
graph shows a group of two adults and two 
children. The man and the girl are perfect 
types of Indians. The other girl shows the 
white strain. 
The story told in Forest and Stream about 
my long April journey along the North Caro¬ 
lina coast, and through the sounds, and of fish¬ 
ing adventures, has been widely copied in the 
State. There was reference to the notably good 
fishing on New River in Onslow county, from 
Jacksonville to its mouth. One of my com¬ 
panions on that expedition writes that lately 
very large rockfish or striped bass have been 
taken with the rod there, and sends a photograph 
showing some of the black bass taken. Out of 
the rockfish taken in the Roanoke River and 
some streams, there is made a most toothsome 
dish, locally known as “rockfish muddle.” It 
ranks alongside of the barbecue and the Bruns¬ 
wick stew, which come along later in the year. 
Government Investigating Slaughter 
of Sea Elephants. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
Acting upon reports that the hides of a 
number of sea elephants had been smuggled 
through American ports recently, Federal Gov¬ 
ernment officials have started an investiga¬ 
tion at Los Angeles. The report of the slaugh¬ 
ter of these animals and of the smuggling in 
of the hides was made by Charles E. Davis, 
naturalist and miner, who declares that the herd 
on Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Lower 
California, has been practically annihilated, but 
sixteen remaining from a total of over 200 to 
be found there a few months ago. 
A conservation movement has been started 
in China, said to be richer in natural resources 
than any other nation. The Chinese use the 
word “conservancy” instead of conservation. 
One of their plans for the Hwai River contem¬ 
plates dredging and tillage together to control 
floods. 
Our Indian Population. 
Indian statistics made public by the Census 
Bureau in Washington show that the red men 
are not decreasing, but the halfbreeds are re¬ 
sponsible for the growth in the Indian popula¬ 
tion. 
They have larger and more vigorous families 
than the pure bloods, and the statisticians con¬ 
clude that the pure bloods are destined to dis¬ 
appear. 
The total Indian population of the United 
States in 1910 was given as 265,683, and of 
Alaska as 25,331. More than one-half are full 
bloods, 35 per cent, are of mixed blood and for 
8 per cent, information was not obtainable. 
There is little intermingling of Indian and 
negro blood, more than nine-tenths of the half¬ 
casts being of white parentage. Only 2,255 were 
of mixed negro blood, and only 1,793 had all 
three strains. Oklahoma has the largest Indian 
population of any State and also the largest 
percentage of mixed bloods. 
Mulberries a Favorite Bird Food. 
South Williamsport, Pa.—Sept. 24 .—Editor 
forest and Stream: Having been a close reader 
of Forest and Stream ever since 1875, I have 
at various times read references to methods of 
attracting and feeding birds, but these methods 
usually refer to the care of the birds in the 
winter season. I now wish to mention what is 
a great attraction and joy to many birds in sum¬ 
mer, namely the berry of the mulberry tree. In 
this section mulberries begin to ripen about the 
same time as the cherries, but last much longer, 
ripening from early part of June to about the 
first of September. From my observation I be¬ 
lieve that the birds prefer mulberries to cher¬ 
ries ; therefore, the berries are not only a boon 
for the birds, but act as some protection to the 
cherry crop. The mulberry is a thrifty grower 
and a handsome tree. They should not be 
planted where the limbs overhang a porch 01 
walk, as the dropping berries stain objects with 
which they come in contact. We have a mul¬ 
berry tree on our premises, and I have noticed 
the following list of birds feeding thereon: 
Flickers, robins, waxwings, catbirds, Baltimore 
orioles, orchard orioles, goldfinches and of 
course the European sparrow. There were prob¬ 
ably others, which I did not identify. I should 
add that the goldfinches were feeding under the 
tree on the ground, probably eating the seeds 
of desiccated berries. 
I hope the reader who owns the necessary 
ground will not pass the hint given in this letter 
over lightly, but will plant a mulberry tree or 
two, which in a few years will rew'ard him from 
the pleasure he will derive from watching the 
happiness of our little feathered friends. 
Edmund G. Koch. 
Idaho Shooting Better. 
Boise, Idaho, Oct. 1 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Game conditions are better than last 
year. Deer, elk, moose and small game are 
found here, while deer and elk are most abund¬ 
ant in Fremont, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone, 
Clearwater, Idaho, Adams and Custer counties. 
O. H. Barber, Game Warden. 
