FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 25 , 1908 . 
138 _ ‘ 
was a mighty shake, and down he came and the 
dogs pounced on him. He was a big fellow and 
made the bag quite heavy. 
We decided that we had enough, and that it 
was time to strike for home, but as we swung 
along an old road the dogs made music again 
and there on the low limb of a persimmon tree 
was a fine young ’possum that seemed stunned 
bv the multitude and the noise, as indeed he 
might be. The dogs raved under him while 
Pool adroitly picked him ofT the limb as if he 
were a persimmon. Homeward bound, and then 
the voices were let loose. We struck bits of 
trail, then a faint road, then a larger one, and 
to the eastward of us glowed the lights of 
Raleigh, while overhead the stars twinkled with 
a soft luminosity. As home after home was 
attained, goodbyes were said and the crowd 
dwindled, but to be sure there were plenty of 
cheers for Pool and his dogs, and everybody 
declared the hunt a success of the first water. 
The Sunshine boys and girls who took part in 
it made it a theme of conversation and of .com¬ 
position, and the public schools got the benefit 
of first impressions of the affair. 
Last year several such hunts were arranged 
by me, and on some of these when we reached 
very picturesque points in the woods we burned 
red-fire. One who has never done this can¬ 
not in the least imagine how beautiful is the 
effect, particularly in a gorge where the trees 
are terraced somewhat, and all the more es¬ 
pecially if there are large rocks. No words 
can describe the beauty of such an illumination. 
My good friend Polk Miller, so well known 
over the United States as an entertainer, banjo- 
player, negro-impersonator, and all-round 
hunter, delights in nothing more than a 
'possum hunt. He has devised something new 
in the line, however. When his dogs tree a 
’possum, he takes a roman candle out of a bag, 
ignites it, and, pointing at the tree where the 
animal is supposed to be, blazes away. If the 
’possum is there, he is revealed every time, 
Polk tells me. Some night this will be tried 
here. 
Some years ago a party of us, including the 
then Governor, were hunting on an island on 
the coast of this State, and as we stepped 
ashore to begin our hunt and prepared to tie 
our boat’s painter to a very prepossessing 
stump, some one looked into a cavity of this 
and lo! and behold! there was a big old ’possum, 
“quiled up,” as one of the negroes put 
it, “en fas’ ersleep.” It happened that this 
particular stump was cut away, brought to 
Raleigh, set up in a case in the State museum, 
the old “he” was mounted by the skilful hand 
of my friend, Herbert H. Brimley, the curator 
and taxidermist of the museum, other ’possums, 
including an old female and two or three of her 
young and some waifs and strays, were ad¬ 
mirably placed about the stump, and so it has 
come to be perhaps the best ’possum group to be 
found anywhere in the country. Some wag put 
on the case, as applying to the old “he,” who 
lies so snugly coiled in the big hollow at the 
bottom while his mate and the others seem 
active, the words of the popular song: “Every¬ 
body Works But Father.” Fred A. Olds. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
Antelope Hunting with the Cheetah. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A few years ago, before the late Maharajah 
of Putiala joined the great majority, I accepted 
an invitation to spend a fortnight in that State, 
to enjoy some shooting, polo and pigsticking. 
It was during my stay that the cheetahs were 
taken out to hunt and I was very glad to be a 
witness of this ancient pastime. The hunt took 
place on a day on which there was not much 
going on—not much for Patiala that is, for 
there was polo morning and evening, roller¬ 
skating and other amusements all day, and a 
banquet that night. The meet was early for 
the hunting, being at 6:30 A. M., and it was a 
deliciously cold morning in March. There was 
a large field, some hundred all told, and many 
ladies, the latter mostly on elephants, but a 
few on ponies. The cheetahs, of which there 
were two, were hooded, and driven on a bullock- 
cart, in charge of two attendants, one of whom 
drove and the other minded the cheetahs. 
The hunt was in charge of an official of the 
State, who ordered the cart‘forward, and told 
the field to follow 200 yards behind. This we 
did, and made for the outskirts of civilization, 
near the edge of the jungle. There were crops 
here, and we were told that the black buck often 
fed on them during the late evening, and early 
morning. It was open country also, and one 
could get a view of anything that happened. 
After sighting several smaller ones, we found 
a “warrantable” buck, and all were halted ex¬ 
cept the cart. This was driven toward the herd, 
which did not take much notice of it, but looked 
mildly curious at the crowd. To understand 
this one must remember that these antelopes 
are very strictly preserved in this territory. 
When about a hundred yards from the buck, the 
cart stopped and the smaller of the two cheetahs 
was taken out, unhooded and slipped. He stood 
for a minute as if dazed and then walked toward 
the buck, which appeared interested. It was 
most fascinating to watch the interest give 
place to uncertainty, uncertainty to apprehen¬ 
sion and apprehension to consternation, as the 
buck first walked away, then trotted, till, sud¬ 
denly the foregoing emotions were succeeded 
by fright and the buck laid his heels to the 
ground in full gallop. These movements had 
been followed almost identically by the cheetah, 
but when the buck broke the former shot for¬ 
ward in a series of huge bounds so fast that the 
eye could scarcely follow him, and then—shut 
up like a rat-trap! Nothing would induce him 
to pursue, nor would he hunt again that morn¬ 
ing, though he was shown several other bucks. 
The keeper said he was so sick at being let go 
so far off, and having made a fool of himself, so 
to speak, that he would probably sulk for two 
or three days and refuse his food. He was 
therefore hooded and lifted back on to the cart 
and chained up there, and the cavalcade moved 
forward to find another buck upon which num¬ 
ber two could demonstrate his prowess. 
He did not disappoint us. We found another 
fair sized buck, and the cheetah was unhooded 
and slipped. He was off at once, and almost 
before the buck was in full flight, but I think 
not quite, he launched himself full at him from 
some yards away, and brought him to the 
ground with a thud. In less than a second he 
had the buck by the throat, and there they lay 
together, the buck practically dead and the 
cheetah drinking from his jugular for all he was 
worth. He could *not be removed for some 
minutes, and when he was it was only by the aid 
of a cocoanut shell ladle filled with still warm 
blood. It was a ticklish job to take him up 
and put him on the cart, as he was so excited 
and growled viciously; but the two natives did 
it unaided, and he was soon peacefully tearing 
at a leg of the buck, which had been given him, 
and the cart was driven home. 
So ended the only “cheetah hunting” I ever 
saw. " Starlight. 
The Season in Vermont. 
Stowe, Vt., Jan. 6 . — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I inclose an article copied from the St. Albans 
Messenger: 
John Madden, who resides on the east shore of Dream 
Lake, witnessed a novel encounter one day last week 
between a deer and two dogs. Mr. Madden’s attention 
was first attracted by the loud barking of a dog, and look¬ 
ing in the direction of the John Collins place, he saw a 
deer emerge from the woods, closely followed by one 
dog with another a few rods behind. The deer made for 
the island, but the ice being thin it broke through into 
the water, the first dog circling around until joined by 
its comrades, when both dogs began a fierce attack upon 
the deer, which put up a good fight, and by its threshing 
and pounding with its forefeet succeeded in getting the 
dogs under the water and ice and keeping them down 
until both were drowned. The deer then with great 
difficulty dragged itself out of the water and reached 
the island, where it stopped for a few moments to take 
breath and view the battleground, receiving hearty ap¬ 
plause from Mr. Madden, who had been a spellbound 
spectator of the affray. 
This is a case where the deer got the best of 
the dogs, the first instance of the kind called 
to my attention in Vermont. I also inclose the 
number of deer killed in Vermont during the 
open season of 1907. I think this outclasses every 
State in the Union for six days’ hunting. 
The season for hunting deer in Vermont m 
1907 opened Monday, Oct. 21, and closed on 
Saturday, Oct. 26. I inclose a copy of laws and 
have marked certain sections. Some have ad¬ 
vocated that the taking of bucks alone would 
deplete the stock. However, this has not proven 
to be the fact. There were killed in 1906 63d 
deer, and 440 more were killed in 1907 than in 1 
1906. 
Deer reported legally killed during open sea¬ 
son of 1907, 993; deer illegally killed, 59; wounded . 
deer killed by order of Commissioner during 
open season, 22; total—1,074. 
H. G. Thomas. 
Firearms in the Woods. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In a recent issue your Norwich correspondent 
argues at length against firearms in the woods 
during the close season on deer. Permit me to 
call attention to another feature of the case 
which is entirely overlooked in the article re¬ 
ferred to. At the present time much is said and 
done regarding the importance of rifle shoot- 
: a. „ iL! , 1.1 -11,, 4-1, n ( KnvQ 
mg to this nation, especially the training of boys 
and young men in the use of the rifle S0‘ that we 
may be a nation of marksmen, and in so far pre¬ 
pared for war of it should ever come. The case 
is not overstated by its advocates. All our 
national history and the part of the rifle there¬ 
in, sustains them. Modern history abroad em¬ 
phasizes the lesson. Now then, with many the 
only opportunity they have either for personal 
rifle practice or for teaching their boys the noble 
