March i, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
263 
Hunting in Alaska 
By J. C. TOLMAN, Senior Game Warden of Kenai and Alaska Peninsula 
Bird Life in Porto Rico. 
BY RALEIGH RAINES. 
The strict prohibition of bird hunting in 
Porto Rico has already resulted in a notable in¬ 
crease in birds of all kinds seen throughout the 
island. Reports to the Insular Bureau of the 
War Department show that more than one hun¬ 
dred distinct species of bird life have been dis¬ 
covered and described. Suitable rules for the 
protection of bird life on the island have been 
formulated, and their strict enforcement is re¬ 
flected by the increase in the number of birds. 
In the very recent past comparatively few birds 
were seen in Porto Rico. They were the prey 
of the mongoose, and in addition to this pest 
the people greatly sought after the birds and 
their eggs for food and so-called “sport.” In 
the introduction of beneficial birds and parasites, 
work thus far has been confined to investigation, 
and search for such species as can be intro¬ 
duced as destructive enemies of local pests. 
That involves thorough study of requirements, 
and then e.xtensive search in other countries for 
the birds and parasites to meet these require¬ 
ments. The board of commissioners of agricul¬ 
ture of the island has conducted extensive in¬ 
vestigations of bird life both in Porto Rico and 
elsewhere. The entomologists employed by the 
board have been engaged in experimental and 
research work along various lines in the classifi¬ 
cation of the several Porto Rican plant para¬ 
sites and their diseases and the search for their 
enemies with which to exterminate them. In 
that work they have taken full advantage of the 
knowledge acquired in similar experiments by 
the Biological Survey and the Department of 
Agriculture. A special effort is being made by 
the board to impress upon Porto Rican school 
children the economic value of bird life to agri¬ 
culture. 
Unfortunately there is a scarcity of insect¬ 
eating birds on the island, and it will be neces¬ 
sary to import some of the varieties which may 
appear suited to the location and climatic con¬ 
ditions to supply this deficiency. The presence 
of the mongoose on the island has been most 
unfortunate for the birds, as the animal which 
was imported several years ago for the purpose 
of destroying cane-eating rats has about de¬ 
stroyed most of the ground-building birds native 
to the island and those that build in low shrubs 
and hence greatly restricts the list of beneficial 
birds which otherwise might be introduced. Ef¬ 
forts will probably be made by the island au¬ 
thorities to do away with the destructive mon¬ 
goose and find other means of exterminating 
the cane-eating rat. 
Canadian Alpine Camp. 
The Canadian Alpine Club will hold their 
annual camp this year at Mount Robson Pass, 
known as the Yellow Head Pass Country. The 
Alpine Club has a membership of about 1,000, 
and includes on its list sportsmen from all over 
the world. There will be several of the prin¬ 
cipal mountain climbers from England, includ¬ 
ing Longstaff, the well-known Alpine climber; 
Dr. Collie and M. Mumm, of France, who are 
also ardent climbers. Mount Robson is 13,700 
feet altitude, and up to the present time has 
been ascended by only one white man, the Rev. 
George B. Kinney. 
O N the Kenai Peninsula the moose are most 
plentiful of any of the game animals. They 
cover the entire peninsula and are plenti¬ 
ful on both sides of the Kenai River. Between 
the river and Kachimak Bay it has been estimated 
that there are between forty and fifty thousand 
on the peninsula. 
Sportsmen from all over the world have 
hunted here, and so far as I am aware have all 
been well pleased. With a proper guide, anyone 
that can shoot at all will have no trouble in 
getting the limit (two) in a very reasonable 
J. C. TOLMAN, 
Senior Game \\’arden, Ivenai and Alaska Peninsula, pre¬ 
paring a caribou roast for Thanksgiving dinner. 
time. Competent guides can be secured at 
Seward and at Kenai. Starting from here a 
party can reach a good moose or sheep country 
in two days’ travel, the first day about twenty- 
five miles by rail and the next thirty miles by 
boat. Sheep are also quite plentiful in some 
localities. A party wishing to hunt both moose 
and sheep can make one permanent camp and 
hunt successfully. There are also a few goats, 
but not plentiful enough to make successful hunt¬ 
ing. 
A party wishing to hunt from the Kenai or 
Cook Inlet side must continue by steamer to 
Seldovia, then transfer to gasolene launches for 
Kenai. Although the steamer runs through to 
Kenai during part of the open season, at that 
time one could go direct. 
Bear are also quite plentiful, tw^o species, 
the brown and black. Parties desiring specimens 
have had little trouble in getting them. Those 
intending to come here to hunt need not bring 
any outfit other than their guns, as everything 
needed can be had here at a reasonable price. 
There are a few caribou on the peninsula 
also, but they are protected the entire year. 
On Kodiak Island there is only one game 
animal, the bear, the Alaska brown and the 
Kodiak or grizzly, the latter equaling or surpass¬ 
ing in size the grizzlies of the States. 
Guides for Kodiak Island can be secured at 
Kodiak or Uyak. 
ALASKA PENINSULA. 
On the north end of the peninsula we have 
moose, caribou, black and brown bear, also the 
Kodiak. 
Along the middle and lower end of the 
peninsula w-e have caribou and bear, the brown 
and Kodiak. I consider that part the best sec¬ 
tion in Alaska to get large specimens of bear, 
as they are very plentiful and have not been 
hunted so much as on Kodiak Island. 
Caribou are very plentiful there. I spent 
last winter in that section and estimate that there 
are between 15,000 and 20,000; have seen droves 
of over 500. Guides may be secured at Unga 
and Sand Point. I was born in Oregon and have 
hunted over California, Oregon and Washington, 
have spent the last twenty-three years in Alaska, 
have been all over it from the southeast end to 
Point Barrow, and I consider these two penin¬ 
sulas by far the greatest game country I have 
ever seen. 
The game is very easy of access, necessitat¬ 
ing no great hardships. Men and women who 
looked to me to be fit subjects for a hospital, 
have come here, but they got their limits and re¬ 
turned happy and looking much improved in 
health. 
Camp Directors’ Association. 
The Camp Directors’ Association, an orga¬ 
nization developed from the Boys’ Camp Ex¬ 
hibits in the annual Sportsmen’s Shows at Madi¬ 
son Square Garden, will hold its third annual 
meeting Saturday evening, March i, at the Vic¬ 
toria Hotel. The association consists of fifty 
directors of organization and private summer 
camps for boys and girls, among them Boy 
Scouts and Young Men’s Christian Association 
camps, and the membership is increasing. At 
the last meeting, Feb. 8, at the Berkely School, 
West End avenue and Seventy-second street, the 
topic for discussion was “Education in Camps,” 
based upon a paper ready by Louis M. Fleisher, 
of Philadelphia. Those pre.sent were: Dr. Elias 
G. Brown, President; W. W. Thomas, Secretary, 
of 355 Riverdale avenue, Yonkers; H. C. Beck¬ 
man, Frank L. Bryant, Louis M. Fleisher, E. M. 
Healy, Dr. Paul Kyle, Allen S. Williams. Dr. 
W. A. Keyes, G. W. Little, Harry Rich Mooney, 
Dr. George L. Meylam, Irving G. McCole, Robert 
Tindale and Dr. Frederick H. Wilson. 
