296 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 25, 1911- 
was certain to be well received. The river was 
now in flood, about thirty yards wide and very 
swift I swam it with my rifle on my back and 
at once started to climb up the foothills of the 
escarpment. In the inky darkness I kept 
stumbling on, dead tired, falling over stones 
and boulders, until I calculated that it must be 
about 8 o’clock. Pretty well exhausted, 1 felt 
that the only thing for me to do was to take 
shelter under a tree for the night, and having 
found one, I must have fallen asleep almost 
immediately. I awakened some hours after¬ 
ward, feeling a trifle fresher, but numbed o 
the bone, my legs being so stiff that I could 
hardly stand. I managed, however, to get on 
my feet and went through physical drill to get 
the circulation started. Then 1 lay down and 
half dozed again, only to feel myself again 
getting numbed, and being compelled again to 
repeat the physical exercises. 
One thing that kept me awake was the neig 1- 
borhood, just after I lay down, of a leopard 
which came quite near me. It was not visible 
in the darkness, but I recognized its peculiar 
purring. I fired a shot in its direction, which 
drove it off for the moment. A little later it 
came back, though, but my second shot must 
have passed a little nearer to it, for it troubled 
me no further. 
It can be easily imagined with what relief I 
felt the rain slackening off at what I thought 
must be about 2 a. m., and with what delight 
I observed the first faint streak of dawn. 
As soon as I could see at all, I realized that 
I was on the wrong side of the river and not 
only had had my yesterday’s swim for nothing, 
but must again attempt the crossing, which m 
the meantime had not become easier. Away m 
the distance, as I limped along with my stiff 
legs, I could see the hill, some five miles oft 
on the other side of the river which marked 
the position of the Marachori camp. The river 
was now some three feet higher, but there was 
nothing for it but to plunge in, and after some 
effort and being carried down 200 yards fiom 
the point I was trying to make for, I managed 
to scramble up the opposite bank. 
It was now sunrise, and I came on a lot o 
guinea fowl, but I was shaking so from cold 
that I was unable to get any aim at them with 
my gun. By carefully maneuvering, I man¬ 
aged, however, to get a rest for my rifle be¬ 
tween two stones, and fortunately dropped one 
with my first shot. Famished as I was, it was 
a matter of a second to pull off some of the 
larger feathers, cut off a leg and eat it raw. It 
tasted so good that I followed with the breast. 
After this I felt much better, and started oft 
to Marachori with a somewhat lighter heart 
On the way I passed a deserted kraal where 1 
found one or two native pumpkins. I im¬ 
mediately cut one in half and enjoyed a good 
meal of raw pumpkin. By this time my clothes 
were getting dried by the sun, and I was feel¬ 
ing quite fit again. 
As I neared Marachori I saw the smoke of 
an Elgayo hut and made for it. The inhabi¬ 
tants took me inside, gave me some wimbi 
(meal) porridge and went off to find my safari, 
which had not yet reached Marachori. They 
all came in at about 3 in the afternoon, having 
camped at the soda spring where they expected 
me, and having spent (so they said) most of the 
night in the bush looking for me. 
This experience taught me very forcibly that 
it is unwise, when traveling in Africa, to lose 
touch with one’s safari. 
Mr. Hoey tells the story so modestly that it 
seems less serious than it really was. But any 
of your readers who have been lost while out 
hunting will, I think, be able to fully appreciate 
his hardships. Only one who has traveled in 
Africa realizes how cold—even under the 
Equator—the nights are. The coolness begins 
to be felt as the sun falls toward the west, 
and after darkness has come fires are needea 
for comfort. F F ^ r ‘ 
Broadbills in Connecticut. 
When the bill prohibiting the killing of wild 
ducks in Connecticut after Jan. 1 was introduced 
into the Legislature, the opponents of the meas¬ 
ure claimed that the broadbills did not come to 
Connecticut waters until after Jan. 1. 
These old-time hunters should have known of 
what they were talking, and we can believe that 
their argument was correct. The friends of the 
bill claimed that all shooting being prohibited 
after Jan. 1, the ducks would soon learn that 
Long Island Sound was a safety zone, and that 
greater numbers would assemble and stay there. 
This meant that fewer birds would be killed in 
the South, more ducks would be left to migrate 
north to the breeding grounds in the spring, 
and that this would cause more of the old and 
the young ducks to come back to the Sound in 
the fall and continue to resort there. It was 
claimed, too, that more ducks would stop and 
breed in the ponds and lakes in the State. 
Four years have passed and what is the re¬ 
sult? Unquestionably black ducks have nested 
in greater numbers in Connecticut and have 
appeared in greater numbers in the ponds and 
alongshore in the fall. 
At Essex, on the lower Connecticut River, 
one hundred black ducks were seen dead at one 
time, waiting to be shipped away, and I have 
before me on excellent authority, the statement 
that two men on the lower Connecticut River 
“killed over 800 ducks the past season, the 
greater part of them being black ducks.’ 
In the spring of 1910, broadbills resorted to 
the mussel beds in Saugatuck Bay in great num¬ 
bers, and became so tame that at times they 
fed near the shore, and one day some men after 
clams threw a stone at them which fell within 
the outside birds in the feeding flock. The 
ducks merely moved off shore, returning when 
the men had gone. 
During early December, 1910, broadbills came 
into the Sound in great numbers, though keep¬ 
ing well out and not coming well to stool. 
The tameness of the broadbills at Saugatuck 
last year has been repeated at Stamford this 
year. The city has been filling up some of its 
meadows with the aid of a suction drudge, and 
on the edge of the channel in the middle of the 
meadows, is a house with a large family living 
in it. , 
On the afternoon of Jan. 4 I saw a flock ot 
over fifty broadbills feeding less than two gun¬ 
shots away from the house. One of the in¬ 
mates of the house is under suspicion of not 
always obeying the game laws, and he was 
cautioned that he must not shoot at the ducks. 
He replied “Did you see them right up to the 
house? Well, how can a fellow help shooting 
at them, when they come nearer than they are 
now—right up to the back door? 
It seemed to me that it would make the 
fingers of more than one person itch to see a 
flock of wild ducks feeding unconcernedly by 
one’s back door; but we should not lose sight 
of the interesting fact that it shows how quickly 
these wild ducks have learned that they are 
safe They remind one of the lesser scaup ducks 
on the Indian River, Florida, that become so 
tame as to feed from one’s hand, when within 
the safety zone. . . 
An effort will be made in Connecticut this 
year to repeal the present law. One bill pro¬ 
posed putting the shooting season back to the 
first of April. 
Sportsmen should ponder well the indisput¬ 
able increase of ducks in the Sound within the 
past four years. They should remember that 
the doing away with spring shooting means 
more ducks to return to the breeding grounds, 
and that with the increased number of hunters, 
the constant breaking up of the breeding 
grounds in the North for farming purposes, they 
must give more and more thought to the future 
of the ducks. They should take no step that 
will bring the wild ducks to the condition ot the 
grouse and the quail in New England. Reader. 
New York Legislature. 
These bills have been introduced: 
By Assemblyman Miller, amending the forest, 
fish and game law in relation to taking fish in 
certain waters of Chenango, Otsego and Madison 
counties. 
By Senator Fiero and Assemblyman Wash¬ 
burn, a bill providing that suckers may be taken 
through the ice in Ulster county. 
By Senator Ferris and Assemblyman Manley 
relating to the open season for grouse and trout. 
It provides that there shall be no open season 
for grouse until Oct. 1, 1915, and that after 
that the open season shall be from Oct. 1 to . 
Nov. 30, both inclusive, in each year. The bill 
also provides that the open season for trout in 
that portion of Oneida county north of the mam 
track of the New York Central and Hudson 
River R. R- shall be from May 1 to Aug. 31, 
both inclusive. 
By Senator Argetsinger changing the open 
season for hares and rabbits except in Fulton 
county from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, inclusive. It also 
reduces from ten to six the maximum number 
of hares or rabbits that may be taken by one 
person in one day, provides that not more than 
six shall be transported on a single trip, pio- 
hibits hunting hares or rabbits with ferrets and 
makes the possession of ferrets presumptive evi¬ 
dence of their illegal use. Changing from Octo¬ 
ber to November, the month during which pheas¬ 
ants may be taken and possessed in certain coun¬ 
ties on certain days of the week. Prohibiting 
the hunting or taking of game on Sunday. 
By Assemblyman Cosad, a bill relating to a 'e 
trout in Seneca county. 
By Senator Bayne, a bill relating to claims 
for damages in connection with purchase of 
land for the forest preserve. 
By Senator O’Brien, inserting a new section, 
194a, in the forest, fish and game law, establish¬ 
ing a station for marine fish culture. The bill 
rarries an appropriation of $5,000. 
