Hunting in the Danish West Indies. 
I. - The Game of Ste. Croix Island. 
1 he island of Ste. Croix, the largest of the 
group, besides presenting to the artistic eye the 
most enchanting scenery, affords to the sports¬ 
man opportunities for indulging his predilections 
little known to the outside world. Of the former 
qualities of this lovely island sufficient has been 
placed before the public by far abler pens than 
mine, while with regard to the latter little or 
nothing has been written. Visitors here from 
Northern countries, though invariably impressed 
with the natural beauties of scenery and the 
delightful climate, have merely a superficial ac¬ 
quaintance with its other advantages, especially 
in the sporting line, and therefore 1 venture to 
think that these chronicles may not be unin¬ 
teresting to lovers of gun and rifle. Not but 
what your true sportsman has also implanted 
in his nature a keen appreciation of the beauties 
of surrounding scenery and its living inhabi¬ 
tants, as well as of the mere excitement of pit¬ 
ting his skill and cunning against that of the 
game he hunts, and whether lying among man¬ 
groves in the moonlight, patiently watching a 
flock of wild ducks feeding their gradual way 
within range of his gun, or stalking with in¬ 
finite precaution and pains, the couple of deer 
grazing out in the open, he still has an eye— 
instinctive it may be—but keenly appreciative 
for incidental objects. And in this region, teem¬ 
ing with animal and vegetable life, the naturalist 
and observer has a wide field for his studies, 
while the hunter is afforded the pleasures of 
the chase without many of the attendant fatigues 
and hardships of the Northern countries, an 
advantages he will learn to fully appreciate after 
a few years passed in this delicious but some¬ 
what enervating climate. 
Along the southern coast of the island extend 
level stretches of land, locally termed pastures 
which, during the rainy season from September 
to January, are the haunts of plover, curlew and 
yellowlegs, visitors from the north, while two 
small lakes or lagoons on the same coast and 
a couple of smaller ones in the eastern part of 
the island, their shores fringed by the ever¬ 
present mangrove (Rhisophora mangle)— that 
bush that impresses the beholder as being half 
reptile, half vegetable, on account of its claw¬ 
like roots—furnish good duck and coot shoot¬ 
ing. Among the hills on the north are numer¬ 
ous ravines, along the sides of which flourish 
various species of berry-bearing trees, the fruit 
of which, when ripe, attracts flocks of the large 
blue pigeon (Columba corcnsis), and the small 
or white-crowned pigeon (C. leucocepliala). 
both of which are fine game birds in plumage 
and toothsomcness, and on account of their 
arrowy flight, as it tries the skill of a marks¬ 
man to stop one of these birds cleaving its way 
with whistling wing through the air. 
Off the northern coast are two small islets, 
Ruck Island and Green Quay, on both of which 
are to be obtained fine dove shooting if one es¬ 
tablishes himself on the shore, looking toward 
the mainland, and takes the birds flying over 
to the quays for the night. And let not the 
unsophisticated reader regard this species of the 
dove (Columba zenaida) that type of gentle¬ 
ness, as an easy prey, for besides great natural 
fleetness of wing he has the advantage of the 
constant trade wind behind him and rushes 
along with the speed of a rocket. Besides 
which, he must be stopped in his flight at so 
exact a period of time as to allow for the im¬ 
petus bringing him on to the narrow strip of 
beach on which you stand, as a couple of sec¬ 
onds miscalculation will cause him to drop be¬ 
yond this into the thick growth of cacti with 
which these islets are covered, and into which 
you dare not penetrate. 
I know few pleasanter experiences than the 
return to the mainland in the glorious moon¬ 
light, as one lies back in the stern of the boat 
with a good cigar between his teeth, a bag of 
forty or fifty birds, with just sufficient sense 
of hunger to make the prospect of dinner ac¬ 
ceptable, and with the delicious ozone of the 
trade wind filling the sail steadily, the wake of 
phosphorescence behind the boat, and the rip¬ 
pling gold of the moonlight effect on the tiny 
wavelets alongside, seem like glimpses of fairy¬ 
land. 
A few years ago, previous to the introduction 
into this terrestrial hunter's paradise of that 
demon, the mongoose, there existed large flocks 
of quail ( Ortyx virginianus ) in the level'lands 
of the center and southern parts, affording fine 
shooting, but these birds are now scarce. In 
those days an afternoon’s stroll over one of 
the large guinea grass pastures, belonging to 
the various sugar estates, with the ringing 
whistle of Bob White sounding on every side, 
and the sudden whirr of their wings as a covey 
started up from among the grass at your feet 
and sped away with great velocity, was an ex¬ 
perience to be remembered. The mongoose was 
introduced into this island by some well mean - 
ing,, but mistaken planters, with a view to the 
extermination of rats in the canefields, and 
though these vermin were thinned out of those 
localities they have become more plentiful in 
the buildings, where the mongoose cannot fol¬ 
low them, and so this beast has turned his at¬ 
tention to the quail and other ground-frequent¬ 
ing birds. The consequent increase of grass¬ 
hoppers and caterpillars has reached formidable 
dimensions. Thus the mongoose, having in 
creased with the natural rapidity of all things 
evil, has become a plague. 
The deer on this island offer good sport. 
During the crop season, as the canefields arc 
gradually cut off, the deer take to the bush 
lands, and can be stalked successfully therein, 
or the sportsman can enjoy a hunt on horse¬ 
back and obtain a shot by taking his stand along 
with others on the four sides of a canefield not 
yet cut off, into which are turned half a dozen 
or so of the native dogs, a nondescript breed, 
and “ornery” of aspect, but gifted with remark¬ 
ably good noses. After a while a yap, yap is 
heard, quickly followed by a chorus of yelps, 
and then every man must be on the alert, for 
the deer bounds on to the narrow range on 
which you are stationed, and with another, dis¬ 
appears into one of the surrounding canefields, 
and it is at the instant of his appearance that 
the shot must be fired. Care must also be taken 
to remain cool, as occasionally an enthusiastic 
darkey may emerge with a leap on to the range, 
and with an excitable man behind the gun a 
catastrophe might occur, or a dog off the scent 
may spring out suddenly and receive the con¬ 
tents of the gun, which latter circumstance I 
have frequently seen. 
It is by no means uncommon to bag three or 
four deer on such a hunt, and generally one or 
two are killed. Should the game escape into 
any of the adjacent canefields the same pro¬ 
cess is repeated; and as often happens, after 
thus being hunted from one cover to another, 
there remains nothing for the animal but a 
burst for life across an open pasture, and then 
the actual sport begins. 
On these hunts the favorite weapon is tlije 
ordinary shotgun, with heavy buckshot, while 
for stalking the rifle is preferred. A descrip¬ 
tion of a few hunting incidents within my per¬ 
sonal experience may be interesting, as showing 
the various sorts of game here, and the excep- 
tionably pleasant surroundings which tend to 
make this branch of sport so enjoyable. 
J. C. DuBois. 
A Disgusted Dog, 
A ludicrous incident occurred at a rabbit hunt 
near Hohokus, N. J., says an exchange. The 
hound started the cottontail in a piece of short 
brush on a side hill. The hunter could witness 
the race at a great distance, and soon saw the 
rabbit making a circle. As he appeared emerg¬ 
ing from the brush he was seen to stop suddenly. 
On rushed the hound, and as he lowered his 
head to seize the little animal the rabbit gave a 
spring to one side, and the dog doubled up like 
a ball. While he was letting himself out the 
rabbit was making time on the back track. The 
hound was soon in full pursuit again, but the 
rabbit led the dog to where two saplings grew 
close together from an old root. He then stop¬ 
ped as before and waited until the dog was 
almost upon him, when he leaped between the 
two saplings, while the dog attempted to follow. 
But there was barely room for the rabbit, and 
the hound was caught in the crotch and badly 
injured. The rabbit turned and looked at his 
enemy a minute and was soon lost in the thicket. 
The dog started immediately for home and no 
amount of coaxing could induce him to continue 
the hunt. 
BREAKFAST IN CAMP 
is nothing without coffee, and coffee is nothing 
without Cream. Ordinarily cream is out of the 
question nine times out of ten, but Borden’s 
Peerless Brand Evaporated Milk takes its place 
perfectly and keeps indefinitely until opened. It 
is unsweetened and has the natural cream flavor 
and color.— Adv. 
