28 SPOKT IN NOKTH AMERICA. 



TUEKEYS. 



Before my adventurous excursions among the Eed 

 Skins in the American wilderness, I had onl}'- seen wikl 

 turkeys {Meleagris fera) in the shops of New York, 

 hung up in the basket of some dealer in fo^Yls, or slung 

 upon the back of some Yankee farmer who brought 

 his game to market. I well knew that the turkey 

 "was the most valued game in North America, but I 

 had never got within gun-shot of him. To accom- 

 plish that, it was necessar}^ to shoot over the States 

 of Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois or Indiana, the verj^ 

 centre of the States ; to sport along the banks of 

 the Missouri and the Mississippi, the greatest rivers 

 of the American continent ; or in Georgia, or the 

 two Carolinas, in the midst of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, where it is difficult to approach the 

 bird, seeing that they live in the wildest s]oots, in 

 the midst of unapproachable ravines, and in forest 

 fastnesses where man seldom penetrates. 



One morning, during my stay with a tribe of Red 

 Skins, one of my companions was informed that a 

 iiock of turkeys had been perceived b}^ an Indian 

 on the border of a little clump of cotton plants 

 not far from where we had pitched our tents. To 

 start for the spot was the aifair of a moment. The 

 Eed Skin advised us to keep the most profound 



