A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia, Part 65

Author: Martin, Joseph. ed. cn; Brockenbrough, William Henry
Publication date: 1835
Publisher: Charlottesville, J. Martin
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia > Part 65
USA > Virginia > A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia > Part 65

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the other, when stretched and expand- ed. They are sagacious and wary, and depend more on the sight than on the sense of smell. On a neck nearly three feet in length, they are out of sight and apparently moving enabled to elevate their head so as to in a circuit to a considerable distance, see and distinguish with a quick and penetrating eye objects at a great dis- tance, and by means of this same length of neck they feed in slack tides, by immersing, as is their habit, nearly all of the body-and throwing only their feet and tails out, in three or four feet water, and on the flatty shores they frequent, generally be- yond gun-shot; the sportsman avail-

ing himself however of a peculiar he may be concealed from this bird,

propensity (of which we shall pre- sently speak more particularly) pre-

vailing with them and some of the be scented before he could get within

other water fowl, often toll them with. in reach of their fire : the swan re- main here the whole winter, only shifting their ground in severe wea- ther from the frozen to the open part of the river, and dropping down into the salts where it is rarely frozen. They get into good condition soon after their arrival in autumn, and re- main fat until toward spring-when

THE WILD GOOSE is yet more wary and vigilant to keep out of harm's way than the swan. He too is sharp sighted, but depends much on his sense of smell for protection ; this is so well known to the hunts-" man, that he never attempts, however to approach it from the direction of the wind, since he would assuredly gun-shot, and left to lament his error, by the sudden flight of the whole flock. These geese toward spring often alight on the land and feed on the herbage in fields, and sometimes in such numbers as to do great in-

*Perhaps this exercise may account for the leanness-and perhaps to produce this ' leanness may be a motive for the exercise. . Ed. Gaz.

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jury to the wheat fields on the bor-[ finds the flock advancing, and by that ders of the river. When so employ- ed they are difficult of approach, al- ways taking a position at a distance from cover of any kind-and march- ing in a single and extended rank flanked by a watch goose at each ex- tremity, which, while all the others are busily ,feeding and advancing with their heads down among the herbage, moves erect, keeping pace with his comrades, his eye and nose -in a position so as to convey to him the earliest intelligence of the pre- sence of an enemy, though at a great distance; and the moment such is perceived, it is communicated to the

he is to assume, under cover of the horse, at about what point, each moy, ing in oblique lines, he will be brought within gun-shot of them. All this being .settled in his mind, he com- mences his movement, first having taken off the saddle and tied up the bridle, so as to show as little as pos- sible of it, he then, with his gun in one hand, and the other on the bridte, places himself on the side of the horse opposite to the game, his legs placed, behind the forclegs of the horse, and his body so bent as to be concealed by the shoulder and neck of the horse: in this constrained at- whole company by certain tones used titude, he urges his faithful coadjutor for alarm, and immediately is res- slowly in the direction fixed on, al- ponded to by a halt and the lifting of lowing him every now and then te. heads, and an instant flight, or a de- stop and regale himself on the young wheat or the herbage over which he is making his way. The. geese, ac, customed to find the domestic ani- mals, and none more common than the horse, pasturing on the fields they frequent -- sce in his approach no cause of aların -- and if due precau- tion has been taken to guard against the sunfling of the taint of man, which there is no question that naz liberate return to feeding takes place, according as the nature of the dan- ger, after the examination may be considered. In the progress of this march the centinels on the flanks are ¿regularly relieved at intervals of some fifteen or twenty minutes, they falling carelessly into the feeding ranks, and others taking in their place the tour of duty on their march. In thisarrayed state, they are attacked ture has taught him readily to disting : with great difficulty by the gunner ; guish, he arrives in due time within" the deadly reach, and mancevering a while to get a raking fire, presently: deals out destruction on the thus cir- cinvented troop. But to attain the object, great patience and endurance are necessary. Hours are consumed in taking and keeping the position with the requisite accuracy, as we have been assured by our informant, who has been an experienced sports- man in these regions, and often him- self gone through the ordeal of wet feet, benumbed hands, bare head, and " this crooked position of the body for several hours, on a stretch, watching- under the neck of the horse, with, snatched glance, the bearing of the his only chance of approach, is by means of a horse trained for the pur- pose-and much precaution is used in this petite guerre. He 'first, on perceiving the flock feeding in an extensive field-and on none other will they commit themselves-recon- noitres the locale, and takes cogni- zance of the direction of the wind- he then having observed the course of march, enters the field at a point so remote, as at the same time to es- cape close scrutiny, and place his game in such a relative situation to him, as that he has the wind,-that is, be the air light or strong,-it is to blow from them toward him, and not from him toward them. Next he is centinels, and on the slightest indica; to estimate by the pace at which he tion of suspicion, setting the horse tor

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

feed, with his own limbs and body so jand that from that time to the present, disposed behind him as not be ex . posed to the line of vision from the

the canvass back duck ceased to make his annual visit to that river: and it other quarter until suspicion was is added, that about the same time the lulled again.

carp-fish ceased to frequent it, and indeed it is affirmed, that this fish is only found in the rivers, to which that duck resorts. If this really be so, it must be, that both are enticed by the same kind of food, or that the grass in question, by some other quality, suits the purposes of the carp fish.

"DUCKS .- Of all the duck tribe, the canvass back, as well on account of their vast numbers, as their supe- rior value, are to be placed in the first class. They breed, as is sup- posed, on the borders of the northern lakes or of Hudson bay, they come to us periodically, as has been before said, from the north, and what is re- "The canvass back feeds in from 6 to 10 feet water; he is an expert diver, and with great strength and agility, seizing it probably near the markable, have never before been known to visit, unless rarely and in small numbers, any other than the waters of the Chesapeake-and of bottom, eradicates the grass, brings it these, of late years, they have con- up root and branch to the surface, where he bites off the root, (which is bulbous, white and about four tenths of an inch across, and six tenths long,) and eating that only, leaves the long herbaceous part to float on the water. fined themselves entirely to the Po- tomac and the Susquehannalı, For- merly they frequented also James river, but for the last thirty or forty years have deserted that river alto- - gether ; they were called shelldrake "Very frequently there are found feeding among these fowl, the BALD FALL DUCK ; he has not the power of diving entirely under water in search of his food, and here he is employed in watching the rising of the canvass back, and in snatching the grass from his grasp, much to there-as they were in those days in The Potomac the white duck-on the Susquehannah, the canvass back ; but latterly the name of canvass back has been given to them on both these last named rivers, where they are now only known. It is well ascertained that they feed on the bulbous root of his annoyance,-and though the bald

a grass which grows on the flats in the fresh water of these rivers, be- cause it is always found in their craws, and which has very much the color and the flavor of garden celery; it is to this food, that is attributed, and we believe correctly, the peculiarly delicious taste of their flesh.

face is the smaller duck, as he is sprightly and active, he often suc- ceeds to get hold before the other has done more than put his bill above water, and to obtain and make off with the prize, (precious part, the root and all,) but generally he con- tents himself with swimming about among the industrious divers, and devouring their leavings, the grassy part of the plant. The favorite pas- ture ground of the canvass back on

"It is said that during a remark- ably hard winter some forty odd years ago, the wind having prevailed a long time from the northwest, and blown so much of the water from the the Potomac is between Crane and flats of James river, that it froze toj Mason's Islands, the first about twen- the bottom, inclosing the long tops of ty-five miles below Washington, and this grass so closely in the ice, that the latter within the District of Co- when it broke up and was floated off lumbia opposite to George Town .*

in the spring, it tore the whole of it * When this part of the river is con- up by the roots and took it away-igealed, usually in January, they are driv-

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ALEXANDRIA.

. "Of late years, because of the in- few minutes, to fire on detached par- crease of hunters constantly in the ties, small in number, until .a good pursuit, and the quantity of craft fly- ing, they have been in a great mea- sure driven from the upper beds of their favorite food, and are seldom, but in small numbers, seen above the bridge, across the river at Washing- ton. But a little lower down, and where the river becomes wider, when at rest at night, or when they have retired from feeding during the day,

portion of the flock has placed itself well huddled together, in the desired position. The habit of these ducks, which, as we have said, are most ex- pert divers, is when feeding in flocks near the bank, to take their course across the shoal from the outer to the inner part of it, beginning on the out- er part where the water is deepest, and progressing inwards with great they ride in the midst of it in such bustle and activity, each darting down

I numbers as, literally to cover acres of water. When they resort to the flats for feeding, they separate in a degree, but yet are found thus em- ployed in flocks of many hundreds, and sometimes thousands. Until within the last five and twenty years, this game was obtained in no other way than by shots from the land, and it was therefore, an object of great interest and sport with the amateur- gun-ners.

"The positions opposite to their feeding places were known, slight blinds of brush wood were thrown up on the edges of the banks, previous to their arrival in the fall, of four or five feet height, under cover of which, in a stooping posture, the sportsman can reach the desired point undiscovered by the sight, (for it happens that this bird is not like some of its tribe, as the malard and others, armed with a strong sense of smell) and here post- ed, if one of skill and patience in his vocation, he waits often no inconsid- erable time for the proper occasion to give the greater effect to his fire. . " It is at this critical moment at the Sometimes when the tide makes high- proper stage of the wheeling motion, er, deepening the water near the bank, and so inducing the ducks to run closer in, but most generally forego- ing fair opportunities during every

en by the ice lower down, to the brackish or salt water, and return on its dissolution towards spring, but never in such condi- tion, or with such good flavor; nor do they recover these after such an absence, during that season.

head foremost with much velocity, and presently returning to the surface with the sought morsel in its bill, des- patching this, and repeating inces- santly the operation presenting a con- stant and rapid succession of comers up and goers down, without order, and amidst a great splashing of wa- ter, until they find they have ap- proached the inmost edge of the growth of grass, when suddenly they all rise in succession to the surface, those first up waiting a moment for the last to come, and now the whole flock being above water, and exhibit- ing three times the number it before seemed, with one accord, they fall in- to close order, wheel and swim slow- ly along, in a direction parallel for some two or three hundred feet with the bank, as well to recover from their fatigue, as to place the column over ground, not yet foraged; and this done, facing outward, they re-com- mence their work of diving and feed- ing, now moving toward the outer edge of the shoal.

that the sportsman in ambush, seeks to open on his unsuspecting victims the deadly fire; it is when with ele- vated heads and the greater part of the body out of the water, the ducks huddled in contact, have presented their sides to him, that he directs his sight and draws his trigger on that section of the flock, which, from its position, best suits his object. In

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

sportsman's phrase, "when he has "There is a singular device prac- got the eye, can ruffle the feather and tised too, by sportsinen, for shooting the canvass back, as well as the other ducks, denominated drift fowl, in the Potomac,-the red head and black head shoveler, and also the swan, from the banks; it is called tolling string," in other words, when the game is so near that their eyes can be seen; and in such position that the shot may not glance off on the fea- thers, and that they can be raked by the fire; the proper observation of them in, and there can be no question of the fact, that each of this descrip- tion of water fowl are often brought within gun shot, by an artifice prac- tised on some propensity with them, not easily accounted for. It is some -. times done by means of a dog, train- ed for the purpose, and sometimes by moving or shaking in a particular way, the branch of a tree with the dried leaves yet attached, a colored handkerchief or some similar thing, the color, however, in each case, be-' ing of a reddish or yellowish hue; and an instance of a hunter yet liv-

which rules often gives it more than double the effect. 'To gain and com- bine all theseadvantages, only belongs to the practised and patient sportsman; he must be acquainted with the habits of his game, and altho' they pass of- ten in review very near him, in the foraging process just described, he must lie close, and often endure cold and wet for a considerable time, and to make his shot tell well, resist temp- tation, until in its various manœuvres, the flock puts itself most in his pow. er; frequently during the ambuscade, the wary flock takes alarm from some ing on the banks of the Potomac, movement of the real, or a supposed who has a thick head of red hair, that he wears in a large old fashioned queue, with a long square brush at the end, often using this trush, shak- en by one hand when lying in wait, with the rest of his body concealed, as a decoy to toll in ducks, has been" given us from good authority. enemy, and fly suddenly off; at other times, in a sense of danger, not so confirmed, it scatters and swims di- rectly from the land with great ra- pidity, each duck as it emerges, drop- ping the fruit of its dive, and taking In haste the same track; an inexpe- rienced gunner believing his chance "THE SWAN is only tolled by a+ dog, that is taught to play about with- in easy call of his master, at the edge- of the water; the several species of ducks just enumerated, are to be toll- ed by the dog in that way, or by the other device. In all cases the hunter contrives to place himself behind a log or some other cover well conceal ed, before he begins his operations, taking care to observe that the direc- tion of the wind is not unfavorable to him, and that the flock he means to toll is near enough to distinguish such objects on the shore, and under no alarm at the time. By what motive these fowls are influenced, we have not heard satisfactorily explained; but certain it is, they are very commonly gone of doing better fires on them in this state, before they get out of his reach, but does little execution. Not so with theold sportsman; he reserves his fire, well knowing that if he re- mains covered, or when other cause of apprehension, as of some person accidentally appearing, shall cease or have passed away, the flock will, af- ter reconnoitering at a distance for a wliile, return again to its feeding ground, and particularly will this last, so determine, because he is fully aware of the fact, that this swimming retreat is always performed under the signal of sauve qui peut, and the dou- ble precaution of each, separating as widely as possible from the other, and sinking itself so far under the water brought in from some hundreds of that nothing but the head and part of yards distance, in this way, to within the neck remains as a mark.

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point blanket shot. It is said, and duck have sensibly decreased since perhaps truly, in the case of the dog, the practice was introduced, and we that they fancy themselves in pursuit! of some animal, us the fox, or inink, by which their young are annoyed at their breeding places.

"Of late years, however, these sports enjoyed by the inhabitants of the banks of the river, have been ve- ry much interrupted, by the practice of shooting from skiffs, with long guns of large calibre, by that class of food. gunners, who hunt for the market.

can but join in the opinion, that this terrible destruction of them at their resting places in the night, where not only are great numbers killed, but ve- ry many are wounded and escape in the dark, for the time, only to linger and die, must ultimately drive off the whole tribe to some place of greater safety, if not offering such grateful The other drift fowl of this river have much the habits of, and are

! They use a very light small skiff hunted somewhat as are the canvass made quite sharp at the bows, capable back. There is nothing remarkable of taking only one man and his enor- either in the habits or the manner of taking the rest of the wild fowl, we have enumerated and not particularly described. mous gun, so low that when thus la- den, the gun-wales are within two inches of the surface, and painted of the color of the water; in the bottom

"SORA .- There is yet, however. of this skiff, scarcely wider than his one other description of water fowl frequenting the Pomac, although, of smaller size, less than the snipe, yet affording so great a delicacy for the table, and so much amusement to the sportsman, that we must not omit to

body, the man lays prostrate, his face downwards, his gun fixed on a dou- ble swivel, to the bow-piece, muzzie out, and the breach being close by his head, so fixed with an arm over each side, and grasping a short paddle in notice it. It is the Sora of Virginia, either hand, when within a certain and Rail of Pennsylvania, sometimes called improperly, Ortolan in the mid- dle states. It frequents the tide wa- ter marshes of the fresh water of this river, and is here only for a few weeks, arriving early in September, and de- parting toward the latter end of Oc- tober. It is common also we learn,' distance of the flock, he bears down on it sa slowly and regularly, and keeping the little bark in such direc- tion, that from its very small eleva- tion above the level of the water, and the sharpness of the bow always pre- sented toward the flock, he often suc- ceeds in the day, and always in the on the Delaware, and the Schuylkill, night time, to arrive within good dis- the James river and most of the rivers in the middle and southern states, The natural history of this bird has. tance for such a piece as he uses, which is very long, and so heavy as not to be fired by the usual method of baffled the efforts of the most diligent bringing to the shoulder, and with and acute enquiries on such subjects, four or five times the charge of a common fowling piece, he commits great slaughter. Most of this mis- chief, if mischief it be, is done in the night, among the flocks in the mid- dle of the wide part of the river,

it is not known which are its breeding places, whence it comes to, or whith. er it goes from us. It is only certain, that it appears suddenly in great num- bers, comes lean, soon gets very fat on the seed of the wild oat, which where they retire for rest, and are constitutes its principal and favorite found riding asleep with their heads |food in these waters,-and disappears, under their wings; and mischief we on the approach of the first smart frost, all at once, as it would seein in. can but think it, since it is believed that the numbers of the canvass back a single night, - no person can give

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

evidence of the manner or direction, he can load, always, however, at sin- of its arrival or departure; but it is gle birds: for although hundreds are often all round him, and springing at every moment within gun shot, even two are rarely seen together. In the marshes on the upper part of the Eastern Branch, and within a few miles of Washington, this game is very plenty, and affords much notorious among sportsmen and oth- 'ers, that they may be found in great numbers and affording fine sport, on a given day in the fall, when if a night of smart frost intervenes, on the next day, not one is to be found, nor ano- ther seen until: the return of their time of visit on the next year. And amusement to the sportsmen every what makes this the more remarkable fall .. Lower down the Potomac they have another mode of taking the So- ra, with less cost, and more expedi- tiously, much practised on the gentle- men's estates in that quarter. It is done in the night by means of a light. A canoe is prepared before hand, by placing . across the gunwales amid- ships, a few boards constituting a plat- form, of about 3 feet square; this is covered with clay, to the thickness of two or three inches, and when dry, affords a good hearth; a quantity of light wood, so called, (the heart of the yellow pine, which after lying fallen is, that they seem badly provided as a bird of passage, having short wings and flying heavily, and not being in the habit, while here, of- congregat- ing; some conjecture that they plunge into the mud, and lie in a torpid state all the rest of the year, but this, like the story of the immersion of the swallow, is scarcely credible. Wil- son supposes them to be migratory- that they have, when it is necessary. to exert it, greater power on the wing than is attributed to them generally, and that they come here from a more northern, and pass on to a more south- in the woods until the sap part is de- ern climate which seems to be most probable.

cayed, and having concentrated its resinous matter, burns fiercely) is . " They afford fine sport to the gun- ner without the necessity of much fa- tigue of address, they are generally shot on the wing, and as they fly slowly they are easily brought down with a light charge of small shot. The time of the tide must be observ- ed-the gunner in a light skiff, push- ed with a pole, by a man in the stern, goes into the marsh on the rise of the tide, an hour or two before high wa ter, and has to leave it the same time on the ebb, not only that he may have a sufficient depth to float his skiff over the flats and fallen grass; but because the birds dont rise as freely split into small pieces, and thrown + into the bottom of the canoe near the hearth, and a boy posted by it to keep up the fire: two or three men now embark, provided, one with a .stout common pole to push the canoe, and the others with light poles 12 or 15 feet long, having a flat board 5 or 6 inches broad, and a foot or so long, nailed on at one end; and enter the marshes frequented by these birds on a dark night, at a time of the tide,. when pretty well covered with water, the Sora are found perched upon the long stalks of the reeds and wild oats, to get out of its way. The blazing on alarm, when by the absence' of fire throws such a glare of light all water they can escape on foot, by run- around for twenty or thirty paces, that it not only discovers quite plainly the birds to those at the fire, but it so de- coys or stupifies them as to detain. them in their positions, peeping and ning over the mud, and hiding them- selves among the grass, at which they are very adroit. At a favorable tide, and when the birds are plenty, there is busy work for 3 or 4 hours for the peering at the light, until they are gunner; he may fire almost as fast as approached within striking distance

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A new and comprehensive gazetteer of Virginia, and the District of Columbia, Part 65

Author: Martin, Joseph. ed. cn; Brockenbrough, William Henry Publication date: 1835 Publisher: Charlottesville, J. Martin Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Martin, Joseph. ed. cn; Brockenbrough, William Henry
Publication date: 1835
Publisher: Charlottesville, J. Martin
Number of Pages: 1278