THE CHASE. 385 



a horse would revolt at the thought of stealing the hunter's 

 prize. 



These same frontiersmen in time became country gentlemen 

 with improved farms and plantations. In the level or even hilly 

 country the deer mostly disappeared before the march of civil- 

 ization, while in the mountainous regions they remained and still 

 remain in considerable numbers. The whilom hunters for meat 

 became sportsmen for the excitement of the chase, or where the 

 old stock have passed awa}'^, the new generation allowed the long, 

 faithful rifle which had done sanguinary service in the early set- 

 tlement of the country, to repose on the rack, and pursued the 

 deer more for the sport than the saddle ; more for the prize than 

 the real profit. The silent and sagacious deer dog was no longer 

 j)rized but gave place to the slow, and boisterous, and I may add 

 stupid, hound. The sublime stillness of silent nature in the 

 solitude of the dark forest is broken by the noisy bay of great 

 packs of hounds, and the timid deer goes rushing through the 

 woods frightened out of his native gracefulness. 



It is where the country is divided into ranges of wood-clad 

 mountains, or high hills divided by valleys, down which rivers or 

 creeks run, or in which lakelets are situated, that the proper 

 theatre is found for running the deer with hounds. For this pur- 

 pose packs of greater or less numbers are kept as in different 

 countries of Europe. In such localities different runways are 

 adopted by the deer, where they pass the watercourses in going 

 from one elevation to another, or where they approach the little 

 lake for bathing. Several sportsmen engage in the hunt. Early 

 in a still, frosty morning they repair to the ground, generally on 

 horseback, when one, and sometimes two, are stationed at each 

 of the well-known runways, when their horses are concealed and 

 the hunters secretly station themselves so as to command the 

 crossing place and its approach. The hounds, in leash, are sent 

 on to the mountains, and at a likely place they are slipped, and 

 the hunt commences. So soon as the deer is started, the hounds 

 give tongue. This is the signal anxiously listened for by the 

 watchers at the several runways. Far away in the distant moun- 

 tain, at first like a faint murmur, the sound is heard, uncertain 

 whether it is the baying of the dogs or the whisper of an insect. 

 The note soon becomes more distinct, and it is certain that the 

 game is afoot. Anxiety now increases to determine who occu- 

 pies the favored location. All along the line the attention of 

 each watcher is strained to the utmost tension, to detect by the 



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