Fes. 17, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
261 


MORO CARRIERS—TRANSPORTATION OF THE SICK. 
Pershing did ail he could to convince the peo- 
ple of Binadyan and the other Moros that the 
affair was not deliberate, and was brought about 
by the action ot the Sultan himself. He donated 
a hundred pesos toward paying the funeral ex- 
penses, and the next morning, when the escort 
came to carry the body to its last resting place, 
he had the Mountain battery accompany it to the 
edge of camp and there fire a salute of three 
guns. But it was all useless, and every warrior in 
Binadyan took an oath that day over the body 
of his dead ruler that he would never sleep un- 
til Pershing and Leon, who through some process 
of reasoning known only to themselves, they 
blamed for the Sultan’s death, had been killed. 
And for many nights afterward it seemed as if 
all Hades had broken loose about Camp Vicars. 
AHMI COMMISSARIO. 
In Arizona. 
_ Prima ReEseErvATIOoN, Ariz.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Gambel’s partridge is more abun- 
dant here than I thought that game birds could 
be anywhere, nor are they at all wild, often feed- 
ing within too yards of the Indians’ houses. In 
two er three hours’ tramping one can flush a half 
dozen or more flocks, and some of these will 
number at least 500 birds. They do not lie well 
to the dog, but that doesn’t much matter, as an 
ordinary shot will bag the legal limit of twenty- 
five birds in a couple of hours. 
Pheenix and Tucson are crowded with health- 
seeking tourists, mainly consumptives I believe, 
and from what I have seen of them I think that 
time hangs rather heavily on their hands. They 
ought to get out of the towns and travel around 
in this wonderfully interesting country, with 
either pack and saddle, or wagon camping outfit. 
The climate is perfect, the temperature ranging 
from about 80 degrees in the daytime to 4o de- 
grees at night. Open air with more or less ex- 
ercise is better for invalids, and for the sound 
also, than a hotel varanda chair. 
I have made some inquiries here regarding the 
Gila monster. A friend informs me that he 
picked the feathers from a chicken’s thigh, tied 
the bird to a stick and succeeded in getting one 
of these lizards to bite it in the bared place. 
Upon being released, water soon began to drop 
from the bird’s mouth and eyes, it made three 
or four circles and dropped dead. No one here 
seems to know of an authentic case of a person 
dying from the bite of a Gila monster. Dr. 
O’Connor, of Phcenix, says that he has treated 
two cases, both persons having been bitten in the 
hand, but outside of a slight swelling of the arm 
the patients suffered little and soon recovered, 
There is a small lizard here, color bright vellow 
with black bands, locally named child of death 
and Apache baby. It is said to be venomous. 
Will Forest AND STREAM kindly tell us what 
poisonous reptiles other than the rattlesnake are 
to be found in Arizona and northern Mexico? 
The mesquite thickets and cottonwood groves 
along the Gila shelter large numbers of wildcats 
and ’coons. Messrs. Haynes and O’Brien, two 
employes of the Government school, have a pack 
of five hounds and every night they go out with 
them. They get game, sometimes two or three 
wildcats, in a few hours, and they never go more 
than two miles away. I have examined both the 
‘coons and cats they bring in, both animals have 
very dingy thin fur. 
Not long ago John Asher and son were travel- 
ing over the Hidden Water trail to their mining 
claim in the Four Peaks, about eighty miles 
northeast of Phcenix. The boy was in the lead, 
riding a mare, which was followed by her young 
colt. In the middle were two packed mules, and 
lastly came Mr. Asher, riding a mule. At a 
point where the trail runs along the top of a 
very steep slide it bends around a large boulder. 
Glancing up the boy saw a cougar couching on 
top of the big rock and called out, “Pa, see the 
big cat!’ Just then the animal sprang down 
upon the colt, and was immediately tackled by 
the shepherd dog. The cougar at once let go of 
the colt and it and the dog rolled in a fighting, 
clawing, snarling, yelping ball down the slide out 
of sight. In the meantime Mr. Asher was hav- 
ing a mixup with his mule. When he jumped off 
of it and started to draw his rifle from the scab- 
bard the beast began to buck and also went down 
the slide a hundred yards or more. He finally 
got the mule back on the trail, and his rifle out, 
but by that time the dog could be heard no longer 
and it was thought that it was dead. Moving on 
with the outfit not 200 yards farther another 
cougar was sighted, and Mr. Asher killed it. He 
found that it was the one which they had first 
seen, for it was bleeding in several places where 
the dog had bitten it. The animal seemed bound 
to dine on colt meat regardless of dog and men. 
This is the story of a hunter and an insurance 
company. Some time ago “Jack ” McCarty, hun- 
ter, guide and collector of curios, outfitted for a 
trip in the Mogcollon Range and started out with 
three companions, Burns, Gavitt and Day. Be- 
fore leaving Phoenix he took éut a life insurance 
policy for $35,000. He had been married about 
six months before, and said that in case anything 
happened to him he would at least leave his wife 
in comfortable circumstances. 
About a month after the party left, the three 
companions ‘returned and said that McCarty was 
missing, and that after a thorough search they 
had failed to find any trace of him. One after- 
noon they related one of them had taken a snap- 
shot photo of him in his hunting costume. He 
had been a member of a number of societies and 
orders, and had pinned the various emblems of 
these across the breast of his canvas coat. To- 
ward sundown of that day he had gone out from 
camp with his shotgun to secure, he told them, 
specimens of a rare pigeon which he knew was 
breeding nearby. They had not heard him shoot, 
and had never seen him again. 
The Masons of Phenix organized a search 
party, which went out to the camping place with 
the three companions of McCarty and hunted the 
surrounding country for days. At last the three 
men found the body in a cafion, one and a half 
miles from camp, in a badly decomposed state. 
Nearby it was the equally decomposed carcass 
of a black bear. On the body of the man was the 
medal and badge-decorated canvas coat. Nearby 
lay the shotgun, the right barrel bursted. The 
entire lower jaw of the man was missing. 
The body was taken into Phcenix and buried 
by the Masons. Then the widow put in her 
claim for the insurance. ‘‘Prove,”’ said the com- 
pany, “that deceased was McCarty.” 
“Tf the lower jaw were not missing,’ said a 
dentist, “I could determine the identity if it 
were McCarty, as I did some work on his lower 
teeth.” 
“But,” said the companions, “it could be no 
other than our friend. Who else could wear the 
badge-decorated coat?” 
“Tf you do not pay, I shall sue you,’ the widow 
declared. 
“Very well, madam,” said the insurance com- 
pany, “sue if you wish to; when you do, we will 
produce McCarty. We can get him any time we 
wish to.” 
No suit has been brought. The three com- 
panions are all dead, and thus ends the story. 
I had thought to find myriads of waterfowl 
down in this sunny land. Spoonbills and shovel- 
lers, widgeon and teal are plentiful. There are 
a few mallards and sprigs, but no geese of any 
kind. I saw literally millions of the latter in 
the San Joaquim Valley in California last win- 
ter. Perhaps they do not winter much south of 
that locality. WANDERER. 
[Except for the various species of rattlesnakes 
found in Arizona, the Gila monster (Heloderma 
suspectum) and the little coral snake (Elops eury- 
avanthus) are the only venomous reptiles there 
known. The small, bright-yellow lizard with 
black bands, whatever species may be meant, is 
certainly harmless. It is either a Callisaurus or 
a Holbrookia; only an expert could tell the two 
apart. The local names given for it by Wan- 
derer would appear to indicate the belief among 
the residents that the animal was venomous. 
This, however, does not mean much, for many 
quite innocent reptiles have very evil reputations 
in different parts of the country.] 
Mr Nichoson’s Buck Ride. 
A RECENT account, in the reckless style of the 
newspapers of the “Rockies” whose yarns are 
usually in accord with the size of their moun- 
tains, relates how an old hunter was involuntarily 
treated to an elk ride, “forty miles, if it was one,” 
which forsooth was a most invigorating shake up 
for the old chap—if true. However that may be, 
the incident of Nichoson’s buck ride, a strictly 
true occurrence, is herewith presented. 
Mr. Nichoson was residing in Naples, Ontario 
county, N. Y., some forty odd years ago—a 
period in which there was yet existing in western 
New York a large extent of forest and a corre- 
sponding fair share of wild game. One winter 
day while engaged in drawing wood, a large 
buck, pursued by hounds over hard crusted snow, 
was run-down by them in the road only a short 
distance from Nichoson, who hastened to secure 
the creature, and straddled its neck with intent 
to cut his throat. While reaching down to get 
out his knife the buck suddenly arose, leaving 
Nichoson’s legs firmly secured under his antlers— 
then with his hoofs he clawed into shreds the 
back part of his rider’s pants and split down his 
boot legs. The buck, finding he could not get rid 
of his rider, then treated him to a vigorous good- 
sized buck trot of nearly a quarter of a mile, and, 
perhaps like the famous cork leg of Mynheer Von 
Waldegg, would be running yet, had not Rob 
managed to stop the wild career of the antlered 
steed by cutting his jugular with a knife. 
The effects of the “hoof raking” and this rough 
ride was a lameness unfitting him for work for 
several days. Mr. Nichoson has long been famed 
throughout this region as the veteran fox hunter, 
and, although a cosmopolite of leisure and well 
along in years, is yet an inveterate sportsman, 
pursuing the glorious pastime with rifle and 
hound at frequently occurring intervals. Piper. 
