The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1899-03-14

Plenty of Quail and Deer Good Fishing
in the Harbor.

/ IN the adIDOIs
As a member Of the Sir Thomas
Upton war relief committee it was my
fortune to pass about fortnight in
Santiago harbor, and / employed a
| portion of my time in looking up the
game and fish. On either side Of the
Yellow Fever island there come in
two small rivers, nayigable in canoes
for about five miles, when we reach
the lofty mountains. The water is
cool and clear, and quantities of fine
fish could be seen. None were taken
by our party, on account of the lack
of tackle. The bushy shores con-
tanned snipe, quail and guinea fowl in
abundance. No hawks were visible,
but the air was dark with buzzards
around about the city. The hunters
all said that the buzzards did no harm
to the game birds or their eggs, but
were merely scavengers. The waters
of the harbor are pretty sluggish, and
the bottom is covered deep with
greasy mud, but the sailors managed
to catch some fish one day, including
big red snapper, which were served
in the captains cabin and pronounced
excellent. In the harbors of San
Juan, Ponce and Santiago the gars
seemed fairlyto swarm. These fish ran
from one to three feet in length. At
night there were many large fish
about, judging from the splashing.
One day a party of us, including
Capt. Alexander, of the rough riders,
went to San Juan hill on horseback,
as there are no roads in that part of
the country. While the captain was
trying to find the body of Capt.
Buck" O'Neil, of Prescott, A. r.,
one of his comrades who had fallen
there, the rest of us wandered around
in the mule trails, now nearly OBJ
liberated and grown up to bushes and
tall weeds. From time to time the
sound of something familiar would
come to the ear, creating the impress |
sion that farmyard was near. 'Buck- /
wheat! buckwheatp was the cry, and
as we drew near up went a score of .
guinea fowl, the regular dark-gray va
riety, with white spots on each feather.
The birds didn't 20 far, so we en-
ployed our time chasing them from
place to place. In doing so we saw
lot Of quail, somewhat larger than our
Bob White. These, too, were very
tame, and would let you approach very
near. The boys got out their revol-
vers and blazed away, but as no one
had shot cartridges, nothing came to
bag.
The utter absence of any venomous
snakes or insects made us all the more
anxious to hunt for these birds next
day, and we tried all that evening in
to get a decent shotgun.
More than ever did | mourn for my
new Baker hammer gun lying in its
case in New York city. How should
have enjoyed a glance along that
"cylinder" Damascus right loaded
with "E. c." smokeless and No. s shot.
No one cared to try Mausers on the
game, and as no amount of persua-
sion could induce Gen. Wood to loan
his valuable double barrel, we had to
give up all thoughts of hunting. Capt.
and the Port Victor's'' doe
tor, McClintic, both vowed that their .
guns would be on board next trip, and
expect to hear from them soon. l..
The dogs in Santiago were mostly
short-legged hounds with long ears. !
This I wondered at until learned that l
he mountains are full of deer. There O..
s a railway running back to some iron !.
mines at Firmeza, 80 miles distant.
where there is excellent deer hunting.
The animals are similar in form and I
,olor to our deer, but are smaller. The =
lesh is excellent. They are killed by q
till huntinp.-FOresta and Stream