FOREST AND STREAM. 
185 

logical Institutions, is evident from the fact, that with 
London, Paris and Antwerp, every year quite a notable 
amount of money is received from the sales of animals 
raised. Of course such ideas of- profit are foreign to the 
main object of a museum, as animals used for breeding 
purposes must necessarily be withdrawn at least for a time 
from public curiosity. 
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of 
animals exhibited as well as in the variety of species, the 
total number of specimens this year being 806, an increase 
of over 200, when compared with the previous year. There 
have been no deaths among any valuable animals of the 
permanent collection this.year. The births have been as 
follows: 
Two Lions, Felis leo; one Leopard, Felis leopardus, two 
Pumas, Felis concolor; one Camel, Camelus dromedarius,; 
one Hyena, Hyena erocuta, which is believed to be the tirst 
Hyena born in America; one Cape Buffalo, Bubalus caffer, 
(South Africa); two Fat-tailed Sheep, Ovis aries, (Syria); 
six Red Deer, Cariacus virginianus, 
Among the most valuable gifts may be mentioned the 
following: 
One Sooty Monkey, Cercocedus fuliginosus, presented by 
General Bomford, U. 8. A. One Sambur Deer, Rusa arés- 
totelis, presented by Consul Heyse, of Swindimundi, Prussia. 
Two large-eared Brockets, Coassus auritus, one presented 
by Hon. Henry 8. Sanford, the other by Mr. Thomas P. 
Ramsdell. One Paisano, Geococcya californianus, presented 
by Mr. Ben. Honnet, of Texas. 
The Menagerie has been largely indebted to Mr. P. T. 
Barnum, Mr. George F. Bailey, Mr. Louis Ruhe, Messrs. 
Van Amburgh & Co., and Messrs. Charles Reiche & Bro., 
for a number of specimens placed by them on exhibition. 
Among these specimens of greatest importance are the three 
Giraffes, Gtraffa camelopardalis; two Sea Lions, Humetopias 
stellert; one Manatee, Manatus americanus; one Malayan 
Tapir, Tapirus malayanus, all exhibited by Mr. P. T. 
Barnum. 
The Manatee fully described by Mr. Conklin in the last 
number of Formst AND STREAM, is a notable instance 
of the painstaking care of the director, and as was accu- 
rately stated by this gentleman, is the first instance known 
of the preservation of the Manattee, away from its native 
resorts, 
The following table shows the most satisfactory increase 
of the permanent collection: 
1871. 1872. 1873, 
Qnadrupedssast. jc. ass are de se Ae eee ale she 3 89 103 199 
1G ger Heche COcRenOLISO nS ace BAe aetan SoEe 143 208 347 
TRE Piles eee ale Aas series wotineties eile ws qe eens 14 ll 35 
The bird collection has received the most notable addi- 
tions and the Falconidz family have many fine representa- 
tives, and perhaps is the best known collection of American 
birds of this peculiar class. 
We trust to be able from time to time to give our readers 
further particulars in regard to the habits of the animals 
and birds in the Park coMection. 
Animals, &c., donated tc Central Park for the month of 
October, 1873: 
One Gray Squirrel, Miss Annie Clevenger. 
One Chati, Lieut. J. W. Miller, U. 8. N. 
One Small Alligator, Sanford W. Steele. 
One Red Vented Corkatoo, Charles P. Daly, Esq. 
One White Heron, Master Charles Harle. I. 
One Young African Lion, Thomas C. Durant. 
One Black Bear, Mr. H. Alberger. 
a 
THE POLARIS. 
ee eee 
S one by one all the mischievous stories circulated in 
regard to the death of Captain Hall, of the Polaris 
expedition, have been traced to their sources, it has been 
found that they were the merest hearsays, and rested on no 
possible foundation of truth. Secretary Robeson, having 
personally investigated the matter, comes to the most evi- 
dent conclusion that Captain Hall died a natural death. 
Hall. from our own personal acquaintance with him, from 
build and temperament would seem exactly a subject liable 
to apoplexy. The Secretary states, after explaining Hall’s 
habits, that ‘tin the seven days of the severest trial and 
suffering, when he reached the highest point attained by 
man, he was much of the time without the necessaries of 
life. During this time of trial he was living and taking 
exercise at a temperature some thirty degrees below zero, 
and on his return to the ship the air of the cabin was fetid 
and unhealthy. On Captain Hall’s coming to his room he 
was in an exhausted condition. Lying down in his heavy 
furs, indulging perhaps in too large a quantity of food, a 
combination of vertigo, congestion, and apoplexy set in 
which terminated fatally.” 
The death of Hall, the rival of Kane, was as heroic as it 
was tragic. Such investigations in regard to the manner of 
his death as were necessarily within the province of the 
Navy Department were of the most judicious character, 
and we have never fora moment supposed that Captain 
Hall’s death could have arisen from any other than natural 
causes. . 
The alacrity with which the Government sent out a re- 
lieving party was in the highest degree commendable. On 
the whole we may congratulate ourselves on the termina- 
tion of this last chapter of Arctic exploration. 
It is unfortunate for human nature that too often the 
best of motives are ignored, and that official personages, in 
the accomplishment of their duties, are made the buts of 
contumacious critics. < 
——————- - <2 0 
—The voice of war—the gun-stock; (gun’s talk). 

WILL BLACK BASS TAKE A FLY. 
eae 
—The Germantown Telegraph of this week says :—‘‘Several 
parties have gone down to the Potomac to try their hand at 
taking black bass with the fly, and we will report results as 
soon as they are ascertained. . Our private opinion is, 
though it is in opposition to far more experienced people in 
the matter, that it will prove a tedious diversion. In the 
Susquehanna, in the vicinity of Harrisburg, where the bass 
are taken in great numbers, in no one instance reported, 
have they yet been know to break the water. The fancy 
professionals will have to resort to young frogs, crawfish or 
minnows to fill their creels, or refrain from fishing alto- 
gether. We shall be sorry for them, should this turn out 
to be true, for this, one of the gamiest fish swimming, 
ought to take the fly.” 
Strange persistence some anglers have in the doubt that 
black bass will not take a fly. It may be that by some 
natural whim, or peculiarity of variety or locality, these fish 
will take the fly in some sections and not in others, or it 
may be that the anglers have not full opportunity to study 
and learn ‘‘their tricks and their manners.” We have taken 
black bass repeatedly in the ‘‘Narrows” at Lake George, 
but only by trolling, while at the deep’ water at the north 
end of Fourteen Mile Island, we have repeatedly taken 
them with a fly. One day we remember that C. L. Brace, 
who used to spend his summers at this quiet resort, had 
tried in vain to tempt the fish, and other anglers from Bol- 
ton took their hand at it, when observing that the bass were 
exceedingly coy, darting furiously at the fly at first, and 
then stopping dead-short when they detected the deception, 
the water being very clear, we agreed to hook the rascals if 
the gentlemen would allow the place a half hour’s rest. 
Then taking a small scarlet ibis fly, we whipped the body 
with a fine thread of sheet lead to give it weight, and after 
a lapse of time, waiting until the shadow of the ledge dark- 
ened the surface of the water, we approached as cautiously 
as if educated trout were there, and tossed in. Instantly 
three black bass responded, when suddenly checking the 
motion of the rod to let the fly sink ever so little, and as 
quickly drawing it forward again, we succeeded in fixing 
the hook in one of the fellow’s lips. Afterwards, we took 
thirteen more. Agair, last August, at Lake Giles, Bloom- 
ing Grove Park, Pa., where the bass are by no means abund- 
ant, we took two with a fly on a split bamboo rod, likewise 
with red ibis fly. We observed that we raised them at only 
one particular spot. This time we were in a skiff, and 
lying well out from shore, threw in towarda pad of scattered 
lily leaves whose thread-like stems found root, between the 
interstices of the stones and boulders that Jay on the bottom. 
There was a shelf just on the line of growth with six feet 
of water on it, and just outside a depth of twenty-eight 
feet. In all kinds of fishing, we have found it best where 
practicable to throw zn toward a shore rather than owt from 
the shore. The reasons are obvious. The angler is not so 
easily seen through the greater depth of water and the ripple 
that usually ruffles its surface, while the fish find their 
small fry and other food along the edge of the channel more 
than inits centre. We havealso taken black bass in Minne- 
sota lakes and in the lakes of Canada, but never in any water 
later than the 13th of August or earlier than the first day of 
July, though one of our correspondents speaks of bass 
taking the fly with avidity inthe Maumee in May and June. 
There is nothing remarkable in the fact that they will not 
rise to a fly at all times, for this peculiarity belongs to other 
fish as well, and notably to the lake trout (which by the 
way, isa northern fish that some anglers affirm will never 
take a fly, although we have taken them in this way repeat- 
edly). In Florida, during December, we have also taken 
the black bass with fly opposite Palatka, on the St. Johns. 
See letter from Ohio in our Fishing Columns. 
—= 2 —— 
Joun C. Hrenan.—There died last week at Great 
River, Utah, John C. Heenan, the well known pugilist 
The leading event of his life was his fight with Sayers in 
Devonshire, England, some thirteen years ago. If it be 
possible to lift the Prize Ring from the low brutality which 
always characterizes and attends it, Heenan certainly used 
his influence to do so. He was said by those who knew 
him to have been more straightforward and correct than 
most of his class, and in the latter days of his life to have held 
the fraternity in contempt, never allowing any allusions to be 
made in regard to his former career. His death, at thirty- 
nine years of age, was induced by pneumoina. 
a oe 
—Some weeks ago, when we introduced the story of a 
“Manatee Hunt in Mexico” as coming from the pen of Mr. 
Charles Lanman, we committed an error. In a note trans— 
mitting the essay to us he stated that he had received it in 
a letter from a friend. Mr. Lanman, it would appear, has 
been everywhere, but not in Mexico. 
ee > 0 
—lIf all the streets of London were joined end to end, 
they would reach in astraight line from England to Ceylon. 
London’s population some 4,025,659 souls, lives in 528,749 
houses. 

a oe 
—George Francis Train has the asthma, and his once 
clarion voice now resembles the sound of a hammer strik- 
ing a green pumpkin.—Danbury News. 
0 
—A tract of land containing 107 acres, located within the 
limits of the military reservation of Fort McPherson, is to be 
laid out as a National Cemetery. This is another way for 
preparing for war in time of peace; yet it is one of the sad- 
dest. Just think of overa hundred acres of land, away 
out on the dreary plains, being especially devoted to graves! 
Let some calculating member of the Engineer Corps esti- 
mate the number of little mounds it will take to fill one 
hundred and seven acres. 


OUT-DOOR COSTUMES. 
ae ee 
HERE are fashions of forest and stream and of the field 
and course, as well as of the carriage, promenade 
and ball room, and it becomes the mission of this journal, 
in its own peculiar province, to instruct its lady readers 
and their devoted husbands and admirers in the selection 
of costumes for out-door recreation which the fashion leader 
of the woods has decreed are suitable for the purpose and 
becoming to the wearer. 
In this department even more than in house dressing, 
sound practical taste is required, as well as judgment in 
selecting the material, which must be healthful, serviceable 
and graceful; and in attempting to give some hints of in- 
struction we fear that our rough hand, used to rifle and 
rod, may make amess of all this delicate female drapery. 
Yet possibly we can suggest to our lady friends how to 
make the skirts of their riding habits flow more gracefully, 
or to give acut of sleeve that shall be better adapted to 
display the charms of the rounded arm which launches the 
arrow from the twanging bow. 
In an old-fashioned chateau on the Belgian frontier is the 
portrait of that noble huntress, Charlotte de Laurenton, the 
Baronne de Dracek, who died at the age of eighty years, 
about the beginning of the present century. She kept 
eight horses all for her own riding, and hunted all the year 
round. The lady is mounted on her favorite gray horse, 
prepared for a hunting expedition. She wears a green coat 
with agold belt round her waist, hat with a high crown, 
having a small gold band round it; her hair is powdered 
and appearing behind in small curls. By her side hangs a 
couteau de chasse, and all the buttons of her coat have 
wolves’ heads stamped on them. As to her prowess, she 
was known to have killed six hundred and seventy wolves 
in her time, besides hundreds of deer and other game; her 
boudoir, too, showed her hunting taste, for there in a row 
stood her saddles, seven in number, also the brackets for 
her eight guns, and instead of flacons with ewu de luce, het 
toilet stand was garnished with powder flasks and shot 
pouches. To be truthful as to the portrait of this lady, we 
must add that the chronicler relates that she was fond of 
cock fighting, though he affirms, rather apologetically, that 
‘no cock fighting was allowed in the chateau, but in an 
out-house, and only when the weather was too bad to allow 
of field sports.” 

RIDING HABITS. 
The simplest of all temale costumes, and yet the 
most elegant and perfect, is the riding dress. Yet 
we seldom see one that, in spite of extravagant outlay 
and the handsome form which it envelopes, is exactly satis- 
factory. A handsome woman and a fine horse are the 
crowning works of nature. To the casual observer the at- 
tire of an equestrienne appears the same, yet through the 
reform as well as the fickleness of fashion, it has been very 
much improved. A dark-brown or blue-black cloth habit 
is very stylish. The skirt is now worn much shorter than 
formerly, the goring of the breadths taking away that su- 
perflous fullness around the waist, gives a graceful flow to 
it, which cannot otherwise be obtained, and entirely does 
away with shot to keep it down. The pantaloons, made of 
flannel or some loosely woven material of the same color as 
the habit, faced with chamois, ought to be long and strapped 
to the feet. This masculine appendage ignores underskirts 
and unburdens the rider with any unnecessary clothing. 
The art of the habit maker lies in the jacket. This should 
set as though it grewon a well-rounded form, giving the 
effect of broad shoulders and hips and a tapering waist. 
It is cut high at the throat, the buttons down the front are 
small, and it is destitute of any kind of trimming. Picca- 
dilly collar with small gray or white bow, and cuffs, easy 
fitting gloves of three or four buttons, laced boots, English 
riding hat and cane equip a lady fer a promenade a cheval, 
Ornaments of all kinds ought to be left at home, if we 
except a tiny pair of ear-rings, those that screw into the ears 
having the preference. Superfluous hair can keep the jew- 
elry company, otherwise it may be lost on the road, and 
that which has a legitimate right there fixed close to the 
head. The “‘ jockey is en régle for a morning run, the ‘‘Die 
Vernon” gives piquancy to certain faces; but the English 
hat, with the veil tied carelessly around it, is suitable to 
ladies of all ages, and is incorporate with horse-back 
riding. 
In riding, the throat often becomes dry; a cup made of 
Russia leather,so that it folds up and can be placed in the lin- 
ing of the hat, is very convenient. It is not advisable to go 
on horse-back after a hearty meal; the jolting of the ani- 
mal is apt to cause nausea, especially as the aristocratic trot 
has entirely superseded the easy canter. 
FOR CROQUET. 
A croquet dress admits of length that is of the demi-train 
order. As the fair contestant walks over the boundary 
line from wicket to wicket, the graceful flow of the skirt 
sweeping over the grass has a very pleasing effect. Of 
course no one in this nineteenth century conversant with 
the laws of health, would attempt to play croquet unless 
the earth be dry. A muslin dress of white ground and del- 
icate figure, neatly made, with a sash to match, a white 
jockey hat trimmed with black velvet and a few wild flow- 
ers, and the neatest kind of a kid boot complete a toilet for 
this favorite out-door game Be very particular about the 
feet, for as every oue knows how often it is required to 
croquet the antagonist’s ball, remember that bien chausséé is 
one-third of your attire. Though gloves protect the hands 
from being tanned. and blistered, yet they are not to be 
recommended, because they encumber one, and not having 
free control of the mallet, in nine cases out of ten the ball 
aimed at is missed. 
