and go over Nanset Bar or Monomoy Island, and sometimes they pass
around the southerly end of the island, Cape Malabar; but the great
mass rise to a safe altitude, strike a "bee line " east by north, and pass
directly over this strip of land. We have often remarked that the leader
of each flock must have a pocket compass placed in the top of his head,
so unerringly do they steer. The flocks of brant on arriving, departing,
or passing over are quite irregular in shape now in column, now in
line, now one end or the other folding upon the centre, now are in a
bunch, then again in line, and as the little dark specks disappear away
down the dim, distant eastern horizon, they are more likely to hold the
latter position than any other. Of all the multitudinous millions we
have seen during the last quarter century not a single flock was ever for
any length of time in cuneiform or V shape as are Canada geese. We
do not pretend to say how they fly in other latitudes or under other
470 SUPPLEMENT.
circumstances. Doctor Kane and other good authorities have spoken of
their flight as being cuneiform in shape in high northern latitudes.
This may hold true at Wellington Channel or Renssalaer Bay, but does
not accord with our observations at Cape Cod. One would naturally
suppose, on seeing these birds constantly feeding at any locality along
shore, it would be easy enough to kill them. There are many such
places up and down our coast, but for reasons very few birds can be
killed. At the mouth of Bass River many brant linger and feed through
the entire season; but there are no "flats," no points where boxes can
be planted and successfully worked; the water is too deep, the shore
too bluff, and the brant feed only at low tide. A box might be placed
on the feeding ground, and operated for a short time during each low
tide, but the depth of water in the immediate vicinity would prevent the
recovery of cripples, an important item in brant shooting, and, more-
over, all our experience teaches us that shooting at these birds on their
feeding ground soon drives them to other quarters, from which they
would never return. The same conclusion was arrived at on examining
the harbor of Nantucket. It will be found even at Chatham that before
any shooting can be done a vast amount of hard work is to be per-
formed. The feeding grounds and flats are so far from the town that
living there is not practicable, and a shanty or house must be built on
the island. Boxes are to be made, pens constructed for holding the
live decoys, and a well dug for fresh water. This " well " arrangement
is a curiosity to the uninitiated. The island where the shanty is located
is not over 200 yards wide, but of undulating surface, /. <?., composed of
little hillocks and valleys or basins. If a hole three feet deep be dug in
one of these basins and a common flour barrel inserted, it will on the
flood tide partially fill with pure, soft water, and will continue to rise
and fall with each tide. The reason of this is that rain falls upon this
porous sand and percolates till it reaches salt water, which, being of
greater specific gravity, holds or buoys up the fresh water. If, how-
ever, one digs a little further down he will pass through the fresh water
stratum, and arrive at bog mud, showing conclusively that this sand has
been driven from the beach by the wind, and deposited on this ancient
marsh. Other liquids may be indulged in at the shanty, but an abun-
dant supply of fresh, potable water will be found indispensable to health
and comfort.
Various contrivances have, from time to time, been introduced for
slaughtering these wary winged wanderers, but none have succeeded
so well as shooting from boxes buried in the sand. It would really
seem to one not acquainted with their peculiarities that those immense
flocks could be approached by a sail boat within range, but again and
again has this been tried and as often failed. A well trimmed " float,"
BRANT SHOOTING, 1881. 471
in the hands of a skilful manager, was tried with no better success.
For several years one club used that abomination of all true sportsmen,
a " floating battery." This was anchored on or near the feeding ground,
and for a short time met with moderate success; but the birds, with their
keen black eyes, soon discovered the cheat and kept aloof.
The bay is miles wide, and a stiff breeze or squall lashes the flood
into such turbulent waves as to endanger the life of the occupant of
said nuisance, and it was a wise move when they concluded to abandon
the battery and return to the old method of shooting from boxes.
About the same time the battery was in use, some twelve years ago,
wood decoys were introduced, but to our mind these are of doubtful
utility. A large lot of wood decoys will undoubtedly attract the
attention of a passing flock, but they rarely light with them, and if
perchance they were deceived into such impropriety, the deception
would soon be discovered, and so hasty a retreat made as barely to give
the gunner a snap shot at a single bird. Nor are they very likely to
swim up and mingle freely with dead bits of wood, however ingeniously
carved or skilfully painted. It is true that sometimes a flock of brant,
that otherwise would not think of coming near the bar, will fly up and
scale round a lot of wood decoys ; but such flocks, scattered by doubt
and fear, offer very little satisfaction to the sportsman, nor will any
great shot ever be made in this way. Once fired at on the wing, they
will not return, but if allowed to alight in the water and swim up to the
decoys a much larger number will be killed, and then the same flock
will afterward visit the bar and repeat this several times on the same
day. They do not seem to be frightened out of their wits when fired
at on the bar, or near the live decoys, as they do on the wing or near
wood decoys. Still, if two or three clubs are operating at the same
time near each other, the one having most wood decoys, other things
being equal, will get the most wing shots. But our boxes are not yet
planted, and this is a job no one man can perform. A water-tight box
large enough to accommodate three persons must be about six feet long,
three and a half wide, and two and a half deep. One half of this is
buried in the flats ; the other is hid by sand being wheeled and piled up
around it. Nor is this all; a bar twenty or thirty yards long, and two
feet high, must be made and maintained for the decoys to run out on
and for the wild ones to assemble upon. The sand must be taken at
low tide from some little distance so as to leave the flats and bar
moderately smooth and natural.
There is an enormous tendency in this Cape Cod sand to a dead level.
Three hundred wheelbarrow loads may be to-day piled up to form a
bar, which a high tide and wind will to-morrow send back to its normal
condition of adherent " dead level." Early in the season, before the
472 SUPPLEMENT.
bars are consolidated, every high wind and tide does more or less damage
to the bars, which must be repaired before the box can be used, as no
brant will come near when it is in sight. Almost every newcomer volun-
teers a plan for preserving the bars, such as bags of sand, brush or stone
deposits, piles driven around, concrete and canvas coverings. Some of
these have been tried. As to the bag speculation, the first high tide dis-
solved the copartnership existing between the sand outside and inside the
bags, leaving a splendid " scare-crow "behind, and the brush and stone
experiment ended even more disastrously. The concrete covering stood
up a little longer, but finally succumbed to the relentless finger of winter.
The frost seemed to soften and disintegrate the mass, which yielded to
the erosive agency of the waves, and it gradually disappeared. In the
spring of 1877 a brilliant idea entered the head of one of the newly
formed clubs. The bar was built, a trench dug around it, canvas (an
old sail) hauled over, the edges tucked into the trench and covered to
hold in place, a hole cut for the box, and the border nailed to it. This
at first was thought to work admirably. The brant, it was said, were
not afraid of it. It would hold the sand in place and save an enormous
amount of wear and tear of wheelbarrows and muscles. So highly was
this scheme commended that the Monomoy Branting Club adopted it at
their North bar the following season, but not with so satisfactory results.
The sand will move under the canvas, from one side of the bar to the
other, by pressure of wind and water, leaving an uneven and unsightly
pile for a bar not at all comparable with the natural sand bar ; in fact, the
Monomoy Branting Club became so disgusted with it, that during the
latter part of the season of 1880, after it had been badly torn by a storm,
it was removed altogether.
Another desideratum in branting is live decoys. No visionary
enthusiast need lay the flattering unction to his soul, that without these,
or with wood decoys alone, he will meet any degree of success. Decoys
are usually obtained in the course of shooting by being slightly wounded
in the wing, when a phalanx is amputated, and the bird is added to the
gaggle. The little captives will, when placed in the pen with the old
ones, commence eating corn, their usual diet while in captivity, and
although they probably never before saw a kernel of corn, they thrive
well on this simple bill of fare. Presumably, in their normal condition,
they never see fresh water, and yet in bondage this is their only
beverage. Nor do they seem to suffer by the change. Another pecul-
iarity about them in captivity is that they have no sexual intercourse,
lay no eggs, exhibit no incubating desire, are cold, dignified, and reserved,
especially toward other fowl, nor do they ever become fully domesticated.
All through the earlier history of branting at this place, and up to within
about eighteen years of the present time, the business was carried
BRANT SHOOTING, 1881. 473
on by 'longshoremen, who associated themselves together for con-
venience, in unorganized clubs, of from three to six persons. In 1862 a
club called the Monomoy Branting Club, consisting of four resident and
fourteen non-resident members, was organized. A little later another
club was formed, and still later a third, but neither of these have been
as successful as the first, probably from the fact that the most available
shooting points were occupied before they entered the field. Of all the
immense flats we have previously described not more than four or five
points are worth occupying, and from a single one of these the " Mud-
hole " about as many brant have been killed as from all the others
combined. This point has been for nearly half a century occupied by
one family, father and sons, until their interest was merged in the Mono-
moy Branting Club. Fifty years ago, when flint-lock guns were in use,
the boxes were partly covered over to prevent the diving fowl from
catching sight of the flash, and thus escaping, as is well known to the
older readers of Forest and Stream, they would do.
The guns were run out through embrasures, and this method necessi-
tated the order, " Ready ! one, two fire ! " It was discovered, how-
ever, when the birds were with the decoys they were not so easily
frightened, and all this roofing-in arrangement was dispensed with,
more particularly after the invention of percussion caps. As we have
been connected with the Monomoy Branting Club from its birth nay,
more, acted as accoucheur upon that occasion, our remarks hence-
forward will have reference more especially to the doings of that
organization.
In forming the club it was arranged that the non-resident members
persons living in Boston or vicinity should build and furnish a shanty,
provide boats, boxes, and the necessary tools for carrying forward the
enterprise, while the resident members whose homes were at Chat-
ham should make and keep in repair the bars, do boating, cooking,
taking care of the decoys, and generally looking after the welfare and
interest of the non-residents. We are happy to add that the plan has
worked admirably and to the entire satisfaction of both " the high con-
tracting parties." It is for the time being a sort of copartnership, the
non-residents paying a stipulated sum for board and privileges, sharing
equally with the residents in all the game killed. This plan knits the
two wings together, makes their interests identical, each willing to labor
for the other, each sharing the other's failures and successes. So ad-
mirably has this scheme worked, that we believe it might be profitably
introduced into large mercantile, manufacturing, mechanical, or mining
operations. Here labor becomes interested in capital and -vice versa, and
by this union of interests the happiest results would follow profits would
be increased, greater harmony prevail, and those disastrous outcrops
474 SUPPLEMENT.
of a foreign growth " strikes " would be avoided. A shanty or
house, 12 x 16 feet, was built and furnished. This, however, was found,
a few years later, to be too small for the convenience of the members
and invited guests, and it was enlarged to double its original capacity,
giving ample room for reading, sleeping, dining, cooking, storage, etc.
If any one wishes to see the very personification of comfort, happiness,
freedom, let him look into this shanty when it is in the "full tide of suc-
cessful operation," where are eight or ten jolly " boys," each one brim-
ful of fun, with a week before them of the best shooting New England
affords, and say, if, in the whole wide world, a counterpart to the picture
can be found.
Here the lawyer quits the bar of justice for the bar of sand, his cause
is " Clams vs. Clients," wherein the former are sure to win. The mer-
chant, weary of watching the market, and the rise and fall of commodities,
mounts the unfailing " tide that, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune."
The doctor smiles as he reflects upon the midnight ride, the bedside
agony, the fatal end ! The minister turns his back upon dogmas and
doctrines, " far from mortal cares retreating," and participates cheerfully
in the life of a sportsman. The entire freedom from all ordinary cares,
the pure, bracing sea air, the cheerful companionship, the total change
of currents of thought, diet, and exercise all the surroundings seem to
conspire to improve one's health, strengthen his mind, elevate his soul,
fortify him against the assaults of any foe, and send him back to his home
a healthier, happier, and, we trust, a better man.
We will now suppose the shanty to be in perfect running order, three
boxes the " Mudhole," "North Bar," and "Gravel" generously
bestowed in their respective bars, and fifteen live decoys in the pen at
the sunny side of the shanty ready for use. Boxes have been planted
at " Inner Point," "Sedge Hummock," and other places, but the plant
proving unprofitable was relinquished. The shooting capacity of the
three boxes is at best but nine. The North Bar is quite low and over-
flows on each excessively high tide, while the Gravel is quite high and
entirely useless on an extremely low tide, so that the box room is hardly
more than six, while the shanty readily accommodates twelve persons.
As the club consists of eighteen members, all told, with about as many
more invited guests, it is necessary to group them into weekly parties of
four or five non-residents, with the four residents, making a party at the
shanty all the season of eight or nine, and this is really the working force
of the club. Another peculiarity of the club is that the weekly parties
rotate, *". e., the party that is at the shanty this year, the first week in
April, takes the second week next year, and so on through the round of
seasons.
We would like here to introduce to the reader the resident members
BRANT SHOOTING, 1881. 475
of the club by their names, as familiarity known at the shanty in 1880
" Alonzo," " George," " Washy, v and " Reno." Mr. David B. Nye, now
of Poplar Branch, Currituck Sound, North Carolina, was one of the four
original resident members, but other business drew him thence, and in
1870 he withdrew altogether. Reno did not become identified with the
club until 1875. But, see! here conies our boat booming along down
the channel with H. M., W. S., and the Doctor, in charge of Alonzo and
George. Now she drops her anchor, and her passengers and baggage
are transferred to the dory to be landed. But even here is a difficulty to
be overcome. The water is so shoal as not to allow a dory to reach the
dry beach, and long boots are in request. But there is the Doctor with
his short top boots, as usual ! He can indulge in a "poose-back " ride.
Well, 'tis ever so where "wishes are horses," and they all scamper away
for the dear old shanty, which seems to stretch out its arms to bid them
welcome. Now, all that big pile of impedimenta is to be " toted " a distance
of 150 yards ; and what a heap of " traps " these Nimrods do carry ! Well,
here they are, at the end of a tedious nine hours' ride by rail, stage, and
boat, with no interruption save the hour beguiled at Chatham, by one of
Alonzo's incomparable clam chowders. How eagerly the newcomers
inspect everything pertaining to the shanty ! With what freedom they
criticise, compare, commend this or that arrangement ! Beds are now over-
hauled, aired, and re-made with clean, fresh linen ; boxes and barrels are
opened, trunks and baskets unpacked, clothing hung up on appropriate
hooks, boots bestowed in proper places, guns mounted upon the rests,
and everything is changed in the twinkling of an evening sunbeam into
one of the most cosey, home-like places imaginable. But, hold ! the
gods, both ancient and modern, must be propitiated. H. (who has a
reputation in that line) is requested to produce one of his popular
lemonades. Of course nothing stronger is indulged in oh, no!
Sportsmen never do overstep the bounds. Well, if one half the bless-
ings bequeathed this commingling of soul and sentiment be realized,
the President of the United States of America will never die, the
country will ever be at peace, nor will poverty or disease ever again
invade her borders. Dhudeens are filled, and as the smoky wavelets
curl and crinkle among the rafters, the fried potatoes are crisp upon the
range and the coffee aroma wings its way to welcoming nostrils. If the
devil furnishes cooks, why, certainly the gods must furnish cookables.
Abstinence produces appetite, and yet all were filled. Then come those
pleasant games at cards, exciting topics of conversation, predictions for
the morrow's shooting. No ! the morrow is " the Sabbath day of the
Lord." O shade of the Pilgrims! this hallowed hour shall not here
almost in sight of that shrine where first they knelt in supplication on
this Continent be desecrated! No solemn church bell summons
476 SUPPLEMENT.
sinners to repentance here ; and yet the day is pleasantly and profitably
spent in making music, watching the immense flocks of brant that
arrive and depart, and in various ways holding sweet converse with
Nature and Nature's God. As the day has been calm, the bars are in
good condition, and the prospects are favorable that Monday morning
will usher in a week of grand sport. It will be high tide at 7.15 A. M.,
and the boxes must be occupied by 5.00 o'clock. The alarm-clock,
which acts as a sort of reveille, is set at 4.00 o'clock and brings every
man to his feet. A hasty repast is improvised, while each gunner
adorns himself with his coarse, heavy wool clothing, oil suit, long boots,
and wool mittens. Three decoys are placed in each basket, and it is
astonishing with what precision the residents will seize the particular
birds that are to be worked on the same line, as there is no' perceptible
difference in the size, plumage, or voice of the sexes. The boxes are
distant from the shanty as follows : " North bar " about a mile, " Mud-
hole" half a mile, and "Gravel," one third of a mile. As the "North
bar " is lowest, the tide, of course, reaches it first ; and as the distance
from the shanty is greater, Reno, who is as constant at the box as the
North Star to the Pole, must start first. He takes with him S. and H.
The high tide of the previous night had filled the box which must be
bailed out ere it can be entered. The decoys are then fettered and
allowed to run out upon the bar, and as the water is making around us,
they rush down for a morning bath which they seem to enjoy exceed-
ingly. Washy, who has for some years managed the "Mudhole," is
accompanied by M. and the doctor, while George with W. occupies the
" Gravel." The parties had scarcely got well braced, when a small
"pod "of brant came flitting along toward the "North bar," and four
out of seven were knocked down by S. and H. and gathered. "What
is that black spot, away down there to the southwest ? " asks Reno,
after gazing steadily for a few moments in that direction. " It looks
like a large flock of brant," he continues, the spot still holding his eager
eyes. " Yes ; it is a flock of brant, and they are heading for us," he
adds. As the flock comes on and on, nearer and nearer, " Yes," he ex-
claims, "they are making directly for us. Now they turn! There
there they go, right in for the ' Mudhole,' " his face elongating at the
sight. "Now," says S, "they have all lighted within two hundred yards
of the box, and as the tide is still flowing, they will be likely to swim in
and give the boys a splendid shot." Sure enough, they soon catch sight
of the decoys on the bar and commence swimming for that point. Only
one head is now seen above the bar. The resident who manages the
decoys keeps -his eyes steadily above the edge of the box to observe
what transpires and report to his companions who crouch down out of
sight, especially when birds are approaching. As the brant assemble
BRANT SHOOTING, 1881. 477
upon and around the bar the observer will notice three heads, and he
understands the leader has signified to his associates that now is the
best time to shoot, and they must very gently raise their heads so as to
look out for the most desirable groups to shoot at and yet not cross the
fire of the others. The order is now presumed to be given : "Ready!
one, two fire!" The first discharge should be simultaneous, the
second at will. Then the box is suddenly vacated, and such a splashing
and dashing after cripples, which are captured first, and afterward on
the way in the dead birds are picked up. "A big shot," says H. "About
a dozen," mutters Reno, who is never sanguine. "More," says S. "Can
tell better when we arrive at the shanty," continues Reno. At this
moment several sea ducks (Somateria mollissimd) come puffing along,
and attempt to pass the " North bar," when, quick as thought, the three
guns were aimed, and three mollissima were floating on the flood, while
a fourth was struck hard but managed to escape. "Those sea ducks
will carry off an enormous lot of shot," remarks S. "Yes," says Reno;
"but if you only had another empty shell in your Boyd & Tyler we
might count four in the box." As the tide flows over the flats a great
many small fish are attracted hither in search of food, and these in turn
draw after them many sheldrake. Three of these came near the "North
bar," and were reminded of their proximity by "Old Cherokee." One
was gathered and one escaped with a broken wing. 'Tis useless chas-
ing wounded sheldrake in water two feet deep. Twenty shells may be
fired and the bird still live.
The tide is fast making over the bar, now "boring" up, now falling off
again. "Shall we be driven?" asks H. "If it continues to blow hard,
we probably shall," responds Reno. Again it " bores," and a wavelet
enters the box. The decoys are now unfettered and placed in the
basket. Another wave forces the party to mount the top of the bar.
Here is the dread alternative either to retreat to the shanty or stand on
the bar for a long hour till the tide ebbs so they can re-enter. As the
road lies between the Mudhole and Gravel, and as no shooting can be
done at either during the passage, it is decided to stand it out. Usually
on being driven when the Gravel is untenanted they "fleet" thither.
At high tide, when the wind blows fresh, the birds are skipping about
pretty lively, and some very good shots are likely to be made. A flock
of about twenty brant drew near the Mudhole, and was greeted by a
salute of six guns, and seven dead were left to be gathered, besides one
"wing-tip," which gave Washy a hard pull to overhaul.
As soon as the tide ebbed so that the north box could be bailed out