Ta lie River. r.}7 



test: as some persons may kill a pheasant before the 

 first of October, so he might have made a grab at me a 

 little before the season, which would have been equally 

 disagreeable to my feelings. The novelty of a white 

 skin in that clear river might have proved too strong a 

 temptation for a shark to withstand. 



I never saw game in such masses as had now col- 

 lected in this neighborhood. The heat was intense, 

 and the noble forest in the vicinity of Yalle river offered 

 an asylum to all animals beneath its shade, where good 

 water and fine grass upon the river's bank supplied 

 their wants. In this forest there was little or no under- 

 wood ; the trees grew to an immense size and stood 

 far apart, so that a clear range might be obtained for a 

 hundred yards. It was, therefore, a perfect spot for 

 deer-stalking ; the tops of the trees formed an imper- 

 vious screen to the sun's rays ; and I passed several 

 days in wandering with my rifle through these shady 

 solitudes, killing an immense quantity of game. The 

 deer were in such masses that I restricted myself to 

 bucks, and I at length became completely satiated. 

 There was too much game ; during a whole day's 

 walk I was certainly not Jive minutes without seeing 

 either deer, elk, buffaloes or hogs. The noise of the rifle 

 did not appear to scare them from the forest ; they 

 would simply retreat for a time to some other portion 

 of it, and fresh herds were met with in following up 

 one which had been disturbed. Still, there were no 

 elephants. Although I had upward of fifty coolies 

 and servants, they could not dry the venison sufficiently 

 fast to prevent the deer from stinking as the}' were 

 killed, and I resolved to leave the country. 



I gave orders for everything to be packed up in 



