April 6, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
433 
less along the west bank of the river, screening 
the vast bottoms from the more disastrous over¬ 
flows. 
As a game preserve right in our midst these 
sunk lands rank high, like the Yazoo canebrakes 
in Mississippi, the great swamps of Florida and 
along the coast lands of the Carolinas and Vir¬ 
ginia. Its bass and other fishing is also of the 
highest order. The many small lakes and basins 
are akin to the better known Reelfoot region. 
From Marked Tree, Ark., to somewhere near 
New Madrid, Mo., a distance of over a hundred 
miles, there extends a network of lakes, bayous 
and small interconnecting streams which form 
an area that is naturally a freshwater fish supply 
region. 
Many years ago, when I lived in St. Louis, we 
made trips to this section, and while we found 
the main rivers, like the St. Francis, not ex:ra 
good for fishing, the many lakes, ponds and 
smaller streams afforded such sport that the 
memory of it is still vivid. Old settlers in this 
section, as do others across the great river near 
Reelfoot, tell of a time when their grandparents, 
then inhabiting a sparsely settled territory, saw 
the Mississippi flow up stream for quite a dis¬ 
tance, owing to a great seismic disturbance that 
occurred here early in the last century. It re¬ 
sulted not only in making Reelfoot Lake, but 
in forming these sunk lands, creating innumer¬ 
able small lakes, lagoons and bayous; a region 
largely unsuitable for agriculture, but quite the 
thing in the way of a great natural fish and 
game preserve. 
As the country grows and the towns and cities 
enlarge, and the farms and plantations around 
it increase, one cannot but feel grateful that 
nature has planted right in our populous m.dst 
such a region as this. While sportsmen enter¬ 
ing or leaving these grounds do so by rail, those 
who make longer stays usually take to the canoe 
or the motor boat. Anj' settler down there can 
go into the swamps, pick out a likely cypress, 
juniper or other suitable wood, and with saw, 
axe, adze, broadaxe and cross-cut saw, fashion 
a dugout of the size he prefers. It may be suit¬ 
able for one or two or a dozen men. Once com¬ 
pleted, the frequent rains will enable him to 
skid or float his canoe into suitable water, when 
—there you are! With a home-made paddle or 
two, he is equipped to go anywhere within three 
score miles in almost any direction at an hour’s 
notice. He can hunt, trap, fish, gather ginseng, 
golden seal or other wild medicinal roots and 
plants and act as guide to the sportsmen from 
big towns. He can live like Crusoe, hermit¬ 
like and alone; or he can have as much company 
as he likes. When the outer world calls him 
he can jump on a train, and almost before he 
knows it be there. If he is wise he will take 
along a goodly store of pelts, roots, pearls and 
the like. Of late large tracts of this area have 
been secured by non-resident sportsmen. Club 
houses are erected. While these hunters spend 
much money here and there, it is of record that 
in more than a few instances they have run 
counter to the game laws. It is likely, however, 
that with the present growth of the public con¬ 
servation spirit all over the land, each State in¬ 
terested in this sunk land problem will further 
cinch its hold, and secure to the people at large 
the public preservation of this great natural pre¬ 
serve so nearly in the center of our great popu¬ 
lation. 
Game in New Brunswick. 
In his annual report, James K. Flemming, sur¬ 
veyor-general of New Brunswick, has this to 
say of the conditions affecting game there: 
The past game season was an ideal one for 
sportsmen. The weather conditions were all that 
could be desired, especially during the month of 
October. So far as can be learned from guides 
and sportsmen returning from the hunt, there 
was no lack of game and as a result very few 
returned from the chase unsuccessful, although 
there are always some who would sooner return 
empty handed than take a head that did not 
come up to their idea of size. 
There are perhaps more possibilities in the 
game of our Province than in almost any other 
of our natural resources, and the Department 
has been alive in bringing to the notice of non¬ 
residents where they may find a sportsman’s 
paradise. The Guides’ Association was encour¬ 
aged by a grant to hold their annual show in 
Madison Square Garden at New York, and there 
is no doubt that exhibitions of this kind, where 
experienced guides can give information at first 
hand, result in numbers coming to this Province. 
No change was made in the game laws with 
regard to the opening and closing of the season 
or as to the number and kinds of game to be 
taken, although representations were made that 
the season be shortened by fifteen days and that 
cow moose might be legally killed. At the 
guides’ annual dinner held in Fredericton, 
which the surveyor-general attended, it was 
brought out by every game guide in attendance 
that all kinds of game was more plentiful than 
ever, and it was the consensus of opinion that 
this happy result was in a large measure brought 
about by the efficient protection we are giving 
to the game of this Province. As an instance 
I may mention that a few years ago no moose 
existed in the southern part of New Brunswick, 
while to-day big heads are found and the game 
is very abundant. Then again it has been stated 
that certain localities were being shot out and 
that if means were not taken to diminish the 
shooting, the end was in sight as far as game 
was concerned. It is curious to note, however, 
that more game was seen in these localities than 
ever before. One of these districts, it may be 
mentioned, is Cain’s River, and we have the testi¬ 
mony of four sportsmen from Dayton, Ohio, 
who brought out four moose (one having a 
spread of sixty-two inches) and seven deer, that 
they saw upward of fifty moose during their trip, 
which is certainly conclusive evidence that the 
game is not on the decrease. During the com¬ 
ing year it will be our ambition to preserve the 
game in a more efficient manner, if that is pos¬ 
sible, than ever before in order that the Prov¬ 
ince may become more attractive to sportsmen 
who spend their money freely and which is cir¬ 
culated among a class of people who are instru¬ 
mental in the building up of our country. While 
the returns from the game receipts are not equal 
to last year, it must be borne in mind that some 
large remittances were not received until after 
the fiscal year was closed. 
In the reports of wardens it is shown that in 
Northumberland county 456 moose, 218 caribou 
and 576 deer were killed in season. This is in 
warden district i, while in district 2, 1,233 ani¬ 
mals were taken out, of which Westmoreland 
county furnished 355. District 3 shipped 540 
moose, nearly half of them from Queens county, 
and district 4 shipped 309 moose, one-third of 
them from Victoria county. 
Wardens report that four non-residents got 
four nice heads at Big Forks, Salmon River, 
Kent countjq 48, 59, 54, 56 inches respectively. 
Tom Lampkey got a head at Salmon River, Kent 
county, 60 inches; Mrs. S. M. Dunn one of 50 
inches, Melvin Dunn got a white deer with black 
ears. 
Frank Jonah got a head on Oct. 2 with a 
spread of 64 inches, 13 points on each pan. On 
Nov. 18, Ransford Lirette, of Calhoun’s Mills, 
Westmorland county, shot a deer weighing 360 
pounds. 
Jos. Muzerall, of Point Sapin, captured a head 
at Laketon, Kent county, on Nov. 30, with a 
spread of over sixty-three inches. 
J. Darius Rodgers, of Fredericton Road, shot 
a leopard-spotted deer in November. A number 
of white (albino) deer have been shot near Har- 
court. 
Wardens Goodwin and Seaman recommend 
that all guns be licensed at $2, as a great many 
hunters carry smooth-bore guns to avoid paying 
license and under pretense of partridge shooting 
carry ball cartridges as well as small shot. 
Elk to Oregon. 
L.vst February a number of elk were brought 
from Jackson’s Hole, Wyo., to St. Anthony, 
Idaho, and there delivered to W. L. Finley, State 
game warden of Oregon, and his chief deputy, 
C. J. Craig, to be turned out in a portion of one 
of the forest reserves in Oregon. 
The elk were transported from Jackson's Hole. 
Wyo., in crates built on sleds, which were hauled 
over the snow to St. Anthonj'. Heavy snows 
interfered with their transportation across the 
Teton Pass, and the first twenty-eight miles of 
the journey occupied four days. Three elk were 
lost in the pass, but twenty-two came through 
in good shape. After being allowed to rest for 
a day. those chosen were started for Oregon in 
charge of Messrs. Finley and Craig. 
From these elk, and a few others previously 
brought there, Mr. Finley selected fifteen of the 
best for transportation to his State. 1 hese are 
to be turned out in a fenced pasture and used 
as a breeding herd from which to secure elk to 
restock other portions of the State. 
Long ago Oregon was full of elk, but like the 
rest of the country it has been swept bare of 
the herds that once inhabited it. The people of 
Oregon are greatly interested in this reintroduc¬ 
tion of elk into the State, and public opinion 
there should be a great force in protecting these 
animals from the lawless and selfish people of 
whom some are found in every community, and 
who for their own selfish pleasure would be 
likely to slaughter these animals. 
