n4 Deer of the River Bottoms. 



ered with rank shrubbery, or it may be bare mud with 

 patches of tall reeds. Here and there, scattered through 

 these swamps, are pools of water, and sluggish ditches 

 occasionally cut their way deep below the surface of the 

 muddy soil. Game trails are abundant all through them, 

 and now and then there is a large path beaten out by 

 the cattle ; while at intervals there are glades and open- 

 ings. A horse must be very careful in going through 

 such a swamp or he will certainly get mired, and even 

 a man must be cautious about his footing. In the 

 morning or late afternoon a man stands a good chance 

 of killing deer in such a place, if he hunts care- 

 fully through it. It is comparatively easy to make but 

 little noise in the mud and among the wet, yielding 

 swamp plants ; and by moving cautiously along the trails 

 and through the openings, one can see some little dis- 

 tance ahead ; and toward evening the pools should be 

 visited, and the borders as far back as possible carefully 

 examined, for any deer that come to drink, and the 

 glades should be searched through for any that may be 

 feeding. In the soft mud, too, a fresh track can be 

 followed as readily as if in snow, and without exposing 

 the hunter to such probability of detection. If a shot 

 is obtained at all, it is at such close quarters as to more 

 than counterbalance the dimness of the light, and to 

 render the chance of a miss very unlikely. Such hunt- 

 ing is for a change very pleasant, the perfect stillness of 

 the place, the quiet with which one has to move, and 

 the constant expectation of seeing game keeping one's 

 nerves always on the stretch ; but after a while it grows 



