Aug. 12, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
255 
on the plains, while hundreds of the Spanish 
bayonet plants stood like sentinels. Earlier in 
the season we should have found in the center 
of each a pyramid of white flowers. Tufts of 
bear grass were sprinkled here and there, hav¬ 
ing a long slender seed stalk eight or ten feet 
high. From the fiber of the blade of this grass 
the Mexicans make a very strong and peculiar 
rope. It is used with great advantage by per¬ 
sons traveling through this country to prevent 
snakes, centipedes, etc., from crawling into the 
beds, around the legs of which it is wound. A 
few miles from the Central Station we came 
upon a part of the plains known as Prairie Dog- 
Village. It was fairly alive with these little 
creatures. About noon we arrived at Fiat Rock, 
a perfectly flat ledge of limestone of great ex¬ 
tent, in which at every few steps are basins of 
different sizes, from that of a bowl to a large 
bathing tub made perfectly smooth by the action 
of the water. These tanks are filled by the rain 
and generally are full of good clear water, a 
perfect Godsend to travelers. We came upon 
some very peculiarly shaped mountains, all look¬ 
ing as though they had been made by inverting 
huge cups, they were so perfectly conical in 
shape, except just at the top where the rains 
had washed away the sand. 
At Pecos we were overtaken by a driving 
norther, but as the tents had been trenched we 
suffered no inconvenience, and the next day 
dawned bright and beautiful. Although the 
roads were very heavy, necessitating slow trave’, 
we reached Hidden Spring about five in the 
afternoon. I am sure none but an expert could 
have found the trail leading to this spring. I 
could see no road at all, as we turned suddenly 
and drove on to a large plain between two hills. 
The grass was far above the hubs of the wheels, 
and as it waved in the wind, the whole p’ain 
looked like a rolling sea, brilliant in the sunlight 
with every shade of green and golden brown, 
while here and there a bright colored wild flower 
added to the beauty. One of our mules gave 
out here, and we were obliged to leave him be¬ 
hind, but next day the colonel sent two men 
back to lead him to camp if possible, and he 
was found able to walk. They are such patient 
workers. There is one strong feature in the 
habits of the mules: if they show signs of ex¬ 
haustion, you have only to unharness them and 
let them have a good roll in the dirt, when they 
will go on refreshed. We met the regular mail 
stage with its wild mules. It was often neces¬ 
sary to have a man at the head of each animal 
till ready for a start, when with a lash from the 
long whip off they bounded, up hill and down 
and through rivers. The speed was never slack¬ 
ened. Do you wonder that the traveler had 
sore bones and an aching head when they made 
in five or six days the trip that took us three 
weeks to accomplish? After crossing Comanche 
Creek we were soon greeted by Major Hart and 
Adjutant Gray, who came out to meet us. We 
stayed in Stockton until the court had completed 
its business. Our first camp after our week of 
garrison life was pitched beside a series of 
springs or holes as they are more properly 
termed. They were sixty feet wide and had a 
depth unknown, as they had been sounded for 
ninety feet without striking bottom. Tbe water 
was Gear and pure and alive with wild ducks. 
At Vanilla Station the keeper told us he did 
not dare take his animals as far as the spring, 
about two miles, for water; lie was so sure of 
being attacked if he did. At that time a new 
road to Stockton was in contemplation so as to 
avoid that lurking place altogether. At about 
three we reached Point of Rocks, where we 
found plenty of good water. After leaving Point 
of Rocks we soon entered this world-renowned 
canon. I wish I could find words to describe 
its beauties or give you some idea of its wild 
scenery. Every step seemed to open a more 
beautiful view as we wound in and among the 
hiils with their rocky sides matted with gray 
moss and purple cactus, with here and there the 
tall plants of the Spanish bayonet and mesqui.e. 
Everybody was stirring early the following- 
morning, and in the best of spirits, while the 
men were trying to make the travel-worn har¬ 
nesses and carriages presentable to drive into 
the post. We did not breakfast until after seven, 
and it seemed much earlier, the sun was so long- 
in Climbing the mountain sides before it took 
a peep at us in the valley below. It was with 
regret that I saw our tents struck for the last 
time, and knew that our pleasant camp life was 
so nearly over. The last twelve miles of our 
drive lay through the canon, the road winding- 
in and around the hills so often that it was im¬ 
possible to guess which way we were to go. 
During this short drive we crossed the Limp’a 
Creek twenty-two times. About two miles from 
the post we were met by two of the officers who 
had come out to welcome their colonel, and very 
heartily the}' did it. 
In less than an hour we dashed into Fort Davis 
where officers and men welcomed us. 
New Publications. 
Hunting Camps in Wood and Wilderness, by 
IT. Hesketh Prichard. Small quarto, cloth, 
274 pages, six full pages in colors and 
numerous reproductions from photographs, 
$4 net. New York, The Sturgis & Walton 
Company. 
Sportsmen who have read “Through the Heart 
of Patagonia 7 ’ will, on opening Mr. Prichard’s 
latest work on big-game hunting, be glad to see 
that its first chapter deals with that far 
southern range of the guanaco, the puma and 
the wild cattle of the pampas. Mr. Prichard 
was a young man when he gained the impres¬ 
sions which enabled him to write so interest¬ 
ingly for the Patagonian volume, and the paint¬ 
ings made by J. G. Millais added materia ly to the 
value of that work. But while matured experi¬ 
ence enables him to write even more interest¬ 
ingly in his recent work, his style remains un¬ 
changed, and one is lured from page to page, 
loth to lay the volume down until the end is 
reached. Frederic C. Selous, who wrote the 
foreword for the book, says he knows few men 
who have grown more enthusiastic over big-game 
hunting than Mr. Prichard. 
Curiously enough the author secured his best 
guemal or huemul buck’s head in the Andes 
through a lucky shot with a revolver. After¬ 
ward he found that he could approach these 
little deer by walking toward them in the open, 
whereas if he attempted to stalk them, they 
would run away on first seeing him. This he 
attributed to the fact that the puma, and the 
wolf or Magellan fox being the only enemies 
the little deer lived in fear of, when he attempted 
to approach it by stealth, it mistook him for 
one of these. 
Of the wild bulls he says that if they only 
possessed better heads few beasts wou.d stand 
higher than they in the category of dangerous 
game, for they are found amidst surroundings of 
great natural beauty among tbe forests and 
peaks on the frontiers of the Cordillera, some¬ 
times right up to the snow line. If attacked or 
wounded they invariably charge, and are agile 
enough to be dangerous antagonists. 
Several chapters are devoted to hunting ir 
Labrador. Then follow elk hunting in Norway, 
moose calling in Canada, and caribou stalking 
in Newfoundland. With the hunters who must 
bring trophies home with them, no matter how 
obtained, Mr. Prichard has no patience. “Those 
who buy heads,” he says, “are generally rich 
parvenus or so-called sportsmen who, having 
started for the woods with the same publicity 
which pervades their lives, do not relish return¬ 
ing to their native towns without a trophy. 
What manner of man it can be who is thus 
content to buy and to lie is a difficult question. 
Certainly on all counts, as one of my hunters 
said, ‘He don't deserve no consideration, though 
his dollars is sound money to us.’ 
“It would appear to be an extreme step if 
the exposure for sale of sporting trophies should 
be forbidden by law, save to museums, yet the 
result would be admirable in every way, and 
would almost certainly do more for the preser¬ 
vation of big game than the appointment and up¬ 
keep of any number of new forest wardens. 
Nor do I suppose that there is any hunter of 
note or skill who would not support such a 
measure by all means in his power." 
Such a law would do more for moose than a 
shortening of the open season, he asserts. 
The illustrations are unusually attractive, par¬ 
ticularly those prepared by Lady Helen Graham, 
and the colored plates by E. G. Caldwell. 
Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream, by G. E. 
M. Skues. Cloth, 133 pages, $2. New York, 
The Macmillan Company. 
Trout fishing in chalk streams has been ex¬ 
haustively treated from the dry-fly point of view 
in recent years, with the result that wet-fly fish¬ 
ing on chalk streams has practically ceased to 
exist. In this work an endeavor is made to show 
how, on many occasions and under many different 
conditions of wind and weather, the wet-fly, 
fished up-stream to individual trout, may fully 
justify its employment to supplement the dry- 
fly, and may add to the weight of the creel 
without infringing the most rigid code of fair 
sport. This is the chief of the author’s “Minor 
Tactics,” but with this material he gives the 
reader the benefit of the experience of five and 
twenty years of chalk stream fishing in the shape 
of devices which he has found helpful, and ob¬ 
servations, some of which at least he believes 
to be new. 
Horace Cox, of London, has just issued the 
fifth edition of "Tegetmeier on Pheasants,” by 
W. B. Tegetmeier. The new edition is larger 
and better than former editions and is fully 
illustrated. It is an excellent guide book for 
game bird breeders. 
