23 o A SPORTSMAN'S EDEN. 



the primitive simplicity of the place that no one 

 seemed to notice the odd costume much. 



The tracks by the wayside upon the freshly- 

 fallen snow were very interesting, as showing how, 

 in spite of the houses, and the hunters who 

 dwelt in them, game still abounded at their very 

 threshold. I tracked one buck along the road 

 past three log cabins, two of which were tenanted. 

 He must, in the early morning, have passed within 

 a few feet of one of the houses. Within a mile of 

 the town, two more deer had crossed the main-road 

 two or three times about sunrise. Of course 

 these were all white-tail, whose quiet skulking 

 habits enable them to live in comparative safety 

 in timber, however close to a town. ' Hounding ' 

 alone is likely to destroy or drive away these 

 pretty beasts, and ' hounding ' i.e., hunting with 

 dogs, which drive the deer to a gunner stationed 

 on the runway or deer's path is in many pro- 

 vinces wisely prohibited by law. 



Let me finish this letter with a story of one 

 of my predecessors which should be a warning 

 to critics of works of art. The Major had slain 

 his moose. He had slain many a great beast 

 before, and had a fair right to consider himself a 

 judge in matters connected with natural history. 

 Fresh from the forest he walked into the Hudson 

 Bay Company's store, and was warmly welcomed 



