INTRODUCTION 



SEVEKAL of the chapters composing this 

 volume were originally published in the 

 " Meriden Literary Eecorder/' during the fall and 

 winter of 1867. Through it they received a wide 

 circulation, and brought to the author many let- 

 ters from all parts of the country, urging him to 

 continue the series, and, when completed, publish 

 them in a more permanent form. Lawyers, phy- 

 sicians, clergymen, and sporting men were united 

 for once in the expression of a common desire. 

 Not a few delightful acquaintances were made 

 through this medium. It was suggested by these 

 unseen friends, that such a series of descriptive 

 pieces, unencumbered with the ordinary reflec- 

 tions and jottings of a tourist's book, free from 

 the slang of guides, and questionable jokes, and 

 ''bear stories," with which works of a similar 

 character have to a great extent been filled, would 

 be gladly welcomed by a large number of people 

 who, born in the country, and familiar in boy- 

 hood with the gun and rod, still retain, in un- 



