STALKING WILD GEESE. 181 



quantity of small game being hung round it, intending to be 

 at the station when the train arrived, and to send my game by 

 it to Galveston. As I came in sight of the station, which was 

 then a mile distant, I saw the train just leaving it, and 

 anywhere else should have returned to camp ; but I knew the 

 peculiarities of that engine, and that it was bound to stop near 

 a certain tree about four miles from the station, so I cantered 

 across and met the train, asking the engine-driver to pull up 

 so that I might put my game on ; this, however, he refused to 

 do, so I continued alongside and chaffed him, telling him that 

 he would have to pull up soon, and might as well do it then, but 

 as he still refused to do so, I cantered on and stopped at the 

 tree and waited, when sure enough the train came to a standstill 

 near me. 



We had splendid sport at Clear Lake, as all kinds of game 

 were in great abundance ; snipe especially were very plentiful, 

 also ducks and grouse of two kinds pintailed and pinnated ; 

 but what we enjoyed most was shooting geese, which were very 

 numerous, and could be found scattered all over the prairie 

 feeding on the grass. If you stood on any high point you 

 could see hundreds of flocks in every direction, and our way of 

 stalking them was as follows : We would each take a quiet pony 

 with only a bridle on him, and describe a large circle on the 

 prairie, stooping so as to be concealed behind him from all 

 those inside this circle. Of course we put up a good many, 

 but this did not disturb the others, who merely ran together 

 towards the centre ; we gradually contracted this circle, getting 

 nearer and nearer to the middle, till within perhaps a hundred 

 yards, and the geese began to put up their heads and cackle, 

 when we jumped on the ponies and galloped in as hard as we could 



