June, 1893.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



87 



the lower side to the ground and stopping 

 up the rear opening with branches of trees, 

 and then, with a great roaring fire in front 

 and a bed of leaves a foot thick to spread 

 our quilts upon, we felt independent of the 

 weather. After supper we retired early, that 

 we might be thoroughly rested and out be- 

 times in the morning for a big day's work. 

 But it was a long while liefore sleep came to 

 our eyes ; the great trees roaring overhead, the 

 hickory nuts rattling down in every direction, 

 the honk .' konk '. of the wild (jeese and 

 the more low whispering notes of the Ducks 

 as they wended their way to the lake, and 

 last but not least a serenade by a pair of 

 those strange, ghoulish creatures, the Barred 

 Owl, who never fails to visit a camp-fire in 

 the deep woods, and where two or three of 

 them, by their great variety of notes, would 

 lead a novice to suppose that there was at 

 least a score or more. 



We had come prepared to down this great 

 tree, bringing with us two sharp axes, a cross- 

 cut saw, a barrel, buckets, etc., and at day- 

 break in the morning the axes were ringing 

 out merrily on the frosty air. The seniors 

 of the party were skilful axemen and experts 

 in felling trees, and yet it was high noon 

 before the giant sycamore, over six feet in 

 diameter and sound to the centre, came 

 thundering to the ground, bearing with it 

 several smaller trees that grew underneath. 

 In those early days it was an unwritten law 

 among the early settlers that the finder of a 

 bee tree was entitled to the right to cut it 

 and possess the bees and honey. .As 1 re- 

 marked before, this tree had been known to 

 contain bees for several years, and more than 

 a dozen different hunters had cut their ini- 

 tials in its smooth bark. Vet on account 

 of its immense size none cared to asstmie 

 the task of cutting it down. The results 

 amply rewarded us for the labor required 

 to fell the tree. After subduing the bees 

 with smoke, we slabbed off a great sec- 

 tion seven or eight feet long from one side 

 of the fallen tree, and the amount of honey 



exposed to view greatly surprised us. Slices 

 of well filled comb four feet long by two in 

 depth were taken out. The barrel was filled 

 full of comb and liquid honey dipped up 

 from the cavity of the tree. 



Finishing up the bee tree, we ate our din- 

 ners, to which the honey was quite a wel- 

 comed addition, and at once prepared for 

 an afternoon hunt. The seniors were armed 

 with rifles and the writer with a light double- 

 barreled shot gun. ^\'e were to hunt to the 

 north of camp, Cameron to make a detour 

 to the w-est. My father and I were to hunt 

 together, bearing to the east, and we would 

 rendezvous at the foot of Thompson's lake, 

 distant about two miles. 



The Red and (jray Squirrels were barking 

 all about ns, but they were too small game 

 for this occasion and did not interest us. K 

 half mile from camp we struck Turkey signs. 



The leaves under the pecan trees were 

 freshly scratched up, and evidently they were 

 not far off. From the direction in which the 

 leaves were scratched we soon determined 

 the course in which the flock was travelling, 

 and with guns ready for immediate use we- 

 stole along noiselessly in pursuit, with ears 

 strained to catch the first sound, and eyes 

 seeing everything that stirred in the thickets. 



Directly quit', quit I some distance in 

 our front warned u;; that we were up to them 

 and were discoxered, but almost simultane- 

 ously with the first warning notes of the rear 

 guard, leader of the flock, my father's rifle 

 leaped to his shoulder and rang out sharp 

 and clear. The Turkeys flew and ran in 

 every direction, but two or three knowing in 

 which way the danger lay. One fine young 

 gobbler, alighting in a tree off to the left, had 

 scarcely folded his wings till he tumbled to 

 the ground at the crack of my gun. 



My father's shot had also been effective, 

 and picking up the two Turkeys we secreted 

 ourselves between the trunks of a large double 

 soft maple tree, that some tempest had torn 

 up by the roots and blown to the ground. 

 For about fifteen minutes everything was as 



