VIRGINIAN DEER. 



137 



picture to himself a cliarraing house, built of brick, 

 and painted ros}' -white, tlie colour of the magnolia. 

 A verandah, painted green and supported by co- 

 lumns draped Vvith creepers, completely surrounded 

 the house, which was shaded with vegetation, like a 

 humming-bird's nest in a bush of sweet-scented 

 acacias. Tlie balmy odours of the orange and 

 lemon trees were rendered all the more agreeable by 

 their admixture with the warm sea-breezes. Golden 

 pheasants, and many kinds of Chinese and Japanese 

 game, thronged the lawn, fed by the hands of pretty 

 Creole girls ; and in the reservoirs of salt water, to 

 Avhich the waves of the sea had access every tide, fish 

 of every kind were sporting about, perfectly acclima- 

 tised, and enduring their captivit}^ very happily. 



I had brought with me to this Eden an excellent 

 gun, by Lepage, — a gun which had served me well 

 upon many a sporting expedition ; and on the morn- 

 ing after my arrival at Edisto, I took with me a 

 negro belonging to the plantation, and sallied forth 

 to survey the ground. In about a couple of hours, 

 I saw many flocks of wild duck, a great many phea- 

 sants, about a dozen turkeys, two deer, and (better 

 than all) a lynx, of the kind called the catamount, 

 or cat-o'-mountain, one of the most gluttonous of 

 the North American carnivora. I had killed my 

 share of this game, and altogether, when we returned 

 to j\Ir. Dallifold's cottage, a dozen head hung from 

 the shoulders of Adonis, who acted as game-carrier. 



