i 9 o HUNTING TRIPS 



through which a man must at times go al- 

 most on all fours. The ground may be 

 covered 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 oc- 

 casionally 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 openings. 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 carefully 

 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 lit- 

 tle distance ahead ; and toward evening the 



