The Poacher. ^^^ 



cutwater, and now and then gazing upwards with solemn admira- 

 tion at the Southern Cross and the other beautiful constellations 

 which spangled the deep blue sky — all was silent as the grave, when 

 suddenly one of the lookouts, who was sitting on the foot of the 

 bowsprit began, in a low but not unmusical voice, the first 

 stanza of that melancholy ditty. I have heard it observed that 

 nothing recals the scenes of youth and home to the wanderer's 

 mind so much as hearing the songs of his earlier days in a foreign 

 land J and never shall I forget how vividly the occurrences which I 

 have just described rushed across my mind when I heard this old 

 song crooned out in that "lone, lone sea." I was some thousand 

 miles away from the spot : but the old village, the forest, and the 

 very oak under which the battle took place, stood as plain before me 

 as the bowsprit of that ship. I could see Johnson and Hammerton, 

 as it were, locked together on the ground in deadly conflict, and I 

 could well picture to myself the tableau of the watcher, the dead 

 poacher, and the dog lying together in the forest glade. 



The poachers were tried at the next assizes, but their sentence 

 was not so heavy as we expected it would have been. In fact, the 

 circumstance of the young poacher being killed by the dog-spear, 

 and on which the counsel for the defence dwelt eloquently, served, 

 I think, to influence both judge and jury. The gang was broken 

 up, and although poaching was carried on on a small scale, we 

 rarely heard afterwards in our woods of any serious battles which 

 before that night were so constantly taking place between the 

 keepers and the poachers. 



Hammerton escaped the vigilance of the police for two years, 

 notwithstanding a reward was offered for his apprehension, and he 

 was a well-known character in our parts. I will here narrate a 

 curious circumstance. A description of his person was inserted in 

 the notices, and we did not think it would be very difficult to iden- 

 tify a man who was peculiarly marked by a large mole on one cheek. 

 But, strange to say, there was not one in the parish (except his most 

 intimate friends, and, of course, they would not help us) who coul4 

 positively swear on which cheek this mole stood. Some were cer-^ 



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