WILD GOATS. 117 



before them. By tliis means tliey generally manage 

 to bag the whole herd. 



Among the passengers onboard the steamer Argo, 

 on board of which I crossed to New York in 1841, 

 was a Swiss, a native of Appenzell, whose open 

 countenance and pleasant manners had attracted me 

 from tlie first. His cabin happened to be next 

 mine, which I sliared with a missionary, who was on 

 his wa}' to Canada to preach Catholicism to the Red 

 Skins of the North. I soon became very intimate 

 with the Swiss, and we spent a great deal of time in 

 each other's company, on deck, and at table. Suffice 

 it to observe that I had discovered in the Swiss an 

 alter ego, a man of similar tastes to myself, and in 

 whose company I took the greatest pleasure. He 

 was as fond of sport as I was. Since leaving 

 college he had resided with his father, a wealthy 

 farmer, who lived near the foot of ]Mount St. Gothard, 

 and there he had obtained the reputation of being 

 one of the most adroit chamois hunters in the 

 canton. M. Simonds had lost all his family, and 

 was emigrating to the regions of the far west, where 

 he intended to found a colony. 



Arrived at New York, we separated Avith mutual 

 regret. He went on straight to the backwoods, 

 and I remained amid what is called civihsation. 

 We promised to write to each other, and I even 

 gave him my word that I Avould pay him a 

 visit whenever I could discover the locality of 



