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FOREST AND STREAM 



while the third, armed with tiny jaws, defends the little 
community against other creatures still smaller. The con- 
trast between the many hues of the hydroid, and the 
changeable metalic lustre of the crab’s claws, makes this 
one of the most beautiful of our finds. : 
On rocky bottoms we find ‘‘terebratulina septentionalis,” 
a pretty little white shell to allappearances, but our lcarned 
friend, Professor Morse holds and shows that with all its 
shell-like attributes it is but a worm. One large rock that 
we brougbt up, of perhaps 600 pounds, was covered with 
them and other shells, such as ‘‘pecten islandicus,” ‘‘ Lamel- 
laria perspicua,” ‘‘anomia aculeata;” glso with bryozow of 
many kinds, and sponges and ascidians. I must content 
myself with merely naming, without describing in detail, a 
host of other creatures, each full of interest. The glass 
coral sponge (Ayalonema longissima), nearly identical with 
one found originally in the Japanese waters; the octopus 
bairdit, a small species of cuttle fish, very rare, originally 
discovered and treated upon by Professor Verrill, who tells 
queer stories as to its odd way of ‘‘putting things;” big and 
little red shrimps, of many varieties, all appreciated by the 
cod and haddock; the spider crab (hyas coaretalus), a favorite 
of the cod, and hosts of shells and worms, 
While the dredge and trawl thus perform their mission, 
and introduce us to these queer fish with whom they have 
scraped acquaintance, our lines and harpoons render their 
contributions, and every cod and haddock, sunfish, skate or 
shark that becomes our prey are interviewed and investiga- 
ted: parasites from their mouths and fins, food yet undi- 
gested from their stomachs, all are bottled for study. 
Says Wiltiam Fundy, a young native whom we captured 
and employed to “‘do chores” (his version of it), dig and 
open clams, &c., when asked what the excitement was for- 
ward:—‘‘Well, sir, one of the sailors (Mr. Aske) has just 
caught a rippin’ big codfish, and one of them perfessors 
was a dissectin’ of him before he got him fairly over the 
rail.” 
Instheir stomachs we find the starfish, shrimps, crabs, 
&c., and in the deeper water half digested pollock and se- 
bastes (red perch), and once we found ina large one some 
green peas and boiled onions. It is supposed by our scientific 
people—who always will assign reasons for everything— 
that had that cod been caught before Toney washed the 
dinner plates we wouldn’t have found those peas. 
One strange fish that we took is worthy of a description. 
It is called locally the goose fish, and by the angler lophius 
Americanus,; the latter (English) name is given it on account 
of a pecular way it has of obtaining its prey. Our speci- 
men was perhaps two and ahalf feet long—a flat, thick, 
mud-colored, misshapen-looking monster, whose small fins 
proclaimed it not a rapid swimmer—andit isnot. Burrow- 
ing close to the mud, which it resembles, it elevates two 
little fishing rods, each about twelve inches in length, 
formed of a stiff, elastic substance like the spine of a cat- 
fish. These spring from the upper part of the nose, and 
when not in use lie back flat upon the head. When he 
wishes his dinner, however, these are raised at various 
angles and moved slowly about; on the end of each dan- 
gles a red muscular fibre, which dilates and contracts like a 
worm. Attracted by this tempting looking bait, the un- 
suspicious pollak attempts to appropriate it. Slowly the 
“angler” lowers his lip, and suddenly engulfs the unwary 
victim in his cavernous mouth, which, set with great fangs, 
opens like an old-fashioned carpet bag. 
Another curious find in our dredge was the egg of a 
skate. his was a dark colored case, of texture somewhat 
like a beetle’s back, but tougher. It was shaped like a fish- 
erman’s creel; a rectangle, wita the ends cut out, leaving a 
square centre, with four projections on which to wind the 
line. The egg shell is not unusual, for they can be found 
on sandy beaches, thrown up by the tide, dried and empty, 
and looking like the husk of some nut. Ours. though, 
contained a living skate. The egz was opened, and the 
little creature released and placed in a basin of water, 
where it swam around for several days. The yolk of the 
egg was still attached to it, and was as large as the rest of 
the fish. 7 
We tried this same experiment with young spiked dog- 
fish, a species of the shark family. We caught great num- 
bers of the old ones, all females, and all containing from 
five to.seven young. To these we gaye the assistance that 
MacDuff received, and they swam about for days dragging 
the unwieldy yolk bag with them. * 
One more topic and J will close; not for the want of 
them, but that, leaving much unsaid, some one more capa- 
ble will take up the thread and carry it out. The Indian 
shell heaps are of great interest. On nearly all of the 
islands they are found, and always situated ona southern 
exposure, which makes it probable that these locations 
were the winter homes of a tribe of Indians now extinct. 
A few inches of mud generally covers the mound, which is 
perhaps two to three feet deep, and composed mostly of the 
shells of the common soft clam; but in the pile we find 
quohog shells, oyster shells, and the bones of bear, dccr, 
ducks, beavers, seals, fish, and of the “great auk,” a bird 
that has been so long extinct that the presence of its bones 
in numbers argues strongly in favor of the great antiquity 
ofthese heaps. We find also bone implements—such as 
awls and needles, and hooked needles, like those ladies use 
now for crochet work; also knives made from the teeth of 
beavers, and stone arrow heads and spear heads. The 
bones areinvariably smashed, the Indians esteeming the 
marrow a great delicacy. The knowledge of this fact pre- 
vented our leader from being sold when some irreverefit 
man buried in a heap an ancient bone that he had picked 
up upon the beach. It was nothing but a pig bone, and the 
professor recognized it at once. The Indians did not raise 
pigs, so that waggish scheme came to naught. 
are in all probability the winter’s accumulation, each of a 
single family, whose wigwam stood where each pile now 
These heaps 
exists. 
Hunting the surrounding country during the summer, in 
winter the game supply would be uncertain; then the never- 
failing clam would ensure against starvation, and, as the 
assortment of bones testified, they were not confined to 
them alone. I noticed that in some heaps the larger bones 
were in greater proportion than in others, and in others 
seal and fish bones were the most plentiful; and I chose to 
fancy that even there some men found hunting and some 
fishing to be their passion, as still they do. And where the 
bear and deer bones were, perhaps some mighty hunter 
had lived, and left these marks of his prowess for us to 
wonder over. Piscno. 

HUNTING THE MANATEE, OR SEA COW 
, i ee ee 
HESE are rare dishes of mformation that we serve 
up weekly to the readers of Forrest anD STREAM, and 
among the bits of choice selection, none will be more ac- 
ceptable to the epicure in natural science than the follow- 
ing sketch from the well-known writer on wilderness sports, 
CHARLES LANMAN, Esq., to whom we are deeply indebted. 
[Ep. F. &S§.]. 
Whilst in Mexico, Iwas sauntering one day along the 
banks of the Panuco river, (thirty miles above thecity of 
Tampico), armed with one of Henry’s twelve shooting re- 
peaters, taking an occasional shot at the alligators basking 
open mouthed on the sand bars, when I observed a great 
commotion in the river several hundred yards below me.. 
Isaw a dark mass slowly rise from the water and creep 
along the shore towards asmall pond made by the over 
flow. It was a large Manatee or River Cow, avery large 
oneindeed. The height of my ambition was to kill one of 
these monsters, and though I had repeatedly shot at them I 
always failed to secure my game. I immediately hast- 
ened towards the manatee, walking very cautiously, for 
their hearing is very acute, and succeeded in approaching 
within three hundred yards, when I was mnch startled at 
seeing some animal creeping cautiously towards the shore 
where the manatee had landed. I thought, at first, it 
must be a large dog, but its movements were too stealthy, 
too cat-like. Iwas atfault. A wolf it could not be, for 
none existed in that part of the country. It crept so low 
in the grass that I could not decide what it was. 
Remembering that I carried a small opera glass in my 
pocket, Istopped and adjusted it, but on account of the 
height of the grass I could only occasionally see the animal. 
Its intention was plainly to intercept the manatee’s retreat. 
Every time the cow raised its head the animal would crouch, 
and when it began feeding on the jilly pads, it slowly ad- 
vanced. I resolved to approach nearer, and with great 
caution and fatigue reached a small clump of trees about 
eighty yards from the manatee, and about one hundred 
and twenty from its assailant, for there was now no doubt 
of its purpose. A bare piece of sand intervened between the 
two animals. Fixing my glass I awaited with great excite- 
ment the approach of the attacking party. Slowly would 
it creep, so slowly that minutes seemed hours. At last, at 
the edge of the sand belt, I saw it crouch low and remain 
immoyable at least five minutes, and then in two tremen- 
dous bounds it crossed the open space and sank as if shot 
in the bushes beyond. I saw it well. It was the dreaded 
“tiger” of the coast, the jaguar. A thrill ran through me, 
and I could not help looking behind to see if his mate was 
not tracking me, but the interest was too great as to what was 
passing infront. Slight as must have been the noise made by 
the jaguar, ithad evidently alarmed the manatee. Itmade 
rapidly for the river, but on passing near, the jaguar, with a 
terriffic roar, which shook the very ground, leaped on the 
head of the unhappy cow. Then bagan astruggle of which I 
could see but little; the roaring and snarling o the jaguar were 
frightful to hear, and the bellowing of the manatee inces- 
sant for at least ten minutes; clouds of dust enveloped 
them; the cow evidently making desperate efforts to reach 
the water, and the jaguar trying to prevent it. At last the 
bellowing and screeching ceased entirely, the dust settled, 
the poor cow was flapping its tail in its death agony, and 
the juguar seated on its launches seemed to lie contempla- 
ing its victim, almost touching it. At this moment the ja- 
guar made a motion and gave a piercing screech, dragging 
itself with its front paws, the hind limbs hanging behind 
motionless. Another movement and another howl; his 
spine was broken. In the struggle or during the death 
agony of the manatee it had fallen on the tiger and 
crushed him, Slowly he draggef himself along, groaning 
at every movement, to the edge of the pond and drank co- 
piously, and lay down in evident pain. 
I now determined to draw near, and with my rifle ready, 
approached the helpless beast. He soon heard my steps, 
and rose again to a sitting posture, roaring loudly and 
showing his teeth, but no evidence of fear, only rage, and 
then lay with his head between his paws watching my 
movements. I advanced to within forty yards when he rose 
suddenly and tried to spring towards me, falling some five 
feet forward. I stopped, wishing to come no nearer than nec- 
essary. He crouched again and almost fascinated me with 
his intense gaze. I looked at him with every nerve strung, 
expecting another attack,, but his eyes alone moved like 
coals of fire. Iadvanced about fifteen .steps more, he 
made another fruitless attempt to leap again. Iturned on 
one side, but no movement of his followed. Until I got 
behind him he seemed doggedly resigned to his fate. I 

shouted and he deliberately turned his head to look about. 
I raised my rifle, and aiming at the glowing eye, fired. No 
movement on his part betrayed he was struck, and as I 
again aimed at him, a spurt of blood gushed from his 
mouth, he turned over, tearing the earth and grass and in no 
less than a minute was dead. I now had leisure to examine 
the animal. 
bitten off, the brain scattered in every direction, and eyes 
clawed out by. the jaguar. 
bitten entirely off, but on the body but few marks of its 
adversary’s claws or teeth were visible. 
teen feet in length and its girth was about twelve feet, the 
mamme were well developed, showing it had asucking calf. 
The hide in color resembled that of the elephant, only a 
little. greener, and the head was ridiculously small compared 
to the size of the body. I now turned to the jaguar; he 
The head of the Manatee was almost entirely — 
One of its fins or arms was 
It measured eigh- 
was also very large and beautifully spotted; his teeth 
were long and his claws very sharp and curved; he meas- 
ured eight feet from tip to tip, as slim and long as a grey 
hound, but the diameter of his paws revealed the muscles of 
steel that lay within. He was about three feet eight inches 
in height, four of the fangs were two inches long, his head 
and skin were much scarred, and one of his ears was 
bitten off. ; 
At this moment two rancheros rode up, butas soon as 
the horses had a smell of the jaguar they shied and re- 
fused to advance, and nothing but the matchless skill of 
the riders saved them from being unhorsed. I sent one to the 
town of Panuco to inform my friends, and in an hour more 
than three hundred people had assembled. The jaguar 
was bodily carried into a canoe and the Manatee with great 
difficulty rolled into the river, and floated between two 
large canoes, sixty feet long, with ropes to prevent 
its sinking, the horsemen following on the banks and yell- 
ing and firing off their muskets. They arrived at Panuco, 
about three miles distant, in perfect triumph, and for three 
days the jaguar, and above all, the Manatee, were the won- 
der of the surrounding country. 
<p o-— 
MY FIRST INTERVIEW WITH A “NIT- 
CHE E.?? 

tng eae 
N the year 185—, while 1 was in the employ of the 
‘Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company,” as sur- 
veyor and appraiser of theirlarge and valuable lands situated 
in twenty-eight different counties in the State of Wiscon- 
sin, some portions of which were remote from settlements 
and at that time especially in the north western part of the 
State, almost an unbroken wilderness, I had an experi- 
ence of camp life for several months, which, if not ful 
of thrilling adventure and hair breadth escapes, con‘ained 
much at least of what goes towards making up a season 
of genuine enjoyment toa sportsman. Even now it is only 
with feelings of pleasure that I recall those days when 
with Eben Pierce (glorious, whole-souled Eben—I wonder 
where he is now)? we run down that 800 pound buck oa 
our snow shoes, or when he with assafcetida in his moc- 
casins, was caught five miles away from camp without a 
gun, and treed bya pack of those. sneaking Wisconsin 
wolves and kept ona three inch limb from seven o’clock 
in the evening of a January night, until sunrise the next 
morning. 
Ah, those were high old times! And now, after this 
somewhat lengthy introduction, let me proceed to my first 
interview alone with a genuine live wild Indian. By thisi 
mean in contradistinction to those drunken, thieving rascals 
Thad seen around the settlements, that could be bought 
apparently by the cord for a drink of whiskey or plug of 
tobacco. One sombre day in January, while making my way 
to camp after a hard day’s tramp, with the sun about a half 
hour up, with my snow shoes clogged and heavy with 
frozen snow, with a headache anda backache and a fcel- 
ing of being pretty well played out generally, I found my 
first Indian, or rather he found me. I was running through 
atamarack swamp. I had got my compass sight in a big 
dead pine about a mile beyond, and that I knew was nea 
our camp. Eben (my pard), had gone around to strike a 
hard wood knoll on the left, calculating to get a brace of 
ruffed grouse that are wont to feed on the buds of the fra- 
grant birch at this season of the year. As I previously said, 
I had got my point beyond, and with downward head and 
the aforesaid feelings, was trudging along, when I was most 
thoroughly startled from my musing by a guttural voice that 
seemed tosay, ‘‘ Bozu, bozu!” Upon looking up, and I did it 
very suddenly, there stepped from under a balsam and ap- 
proached asingular and to me a terrific specimen of hu- 
manity, with fiercely painted visage, dressed in all the 
buckskin and wampum paraphernalia of a native, armed 
and equipped—very much so—with hig gun, hatchet and 
big knife. Now while I do not allow that Iam actually a 
coward, yet I must confess that the blood rushed back 
upon my heart with more than its wonted current as I 
squared myself and thrust forward my Jacob staff in at- 
titude of defence. 
Mr. Redman perceiving my condition, while a grin over- 
spread his bedaubed face, making it more hideous than be- 
fore, extended his right hand in token of amity. The of- 
fer, you may be certain, was promptly met by me, and we 
crossed palms, and looked into each other’s eyes for I 
should think a full minute. He then broke out with 
what I afterwards discovered to be ‘€ Scootarnauboo give 
Nitchee,” (fire water, or whiskey, give Indian). Lshook 
my head, intimating I was not posted in Indian dialect: he 
then put his hand in his mouth in the manner of holding 
a bottle, imitating the sound of a liquid gurgling down a 
throat, saying ‘‘ good, good,” and I must confess he did it 
well, rubbing his paunch at the same time with his other 
