AN INDIAN SHOOTING PARTY. 73 



dians who were preparing for a shooting excursion. I 

 jumped up, and was getting ready to join them, but soon 

 remembered that, with my ragged coat, I could not ven- 

 ture among the thorns ; I should have been caught every 

 moment. I showed it to one of the young men, he im- 

 mediately ran off, and soon returned with a sort of coat, 

 or rather hunting-shirt made out of a blanket. He 

 made signs that he would sell it to me, and was delighted 

 to receive a dollar for it, with the rags of my green coat 

 into the bargain. For a second dollar, I obtained his 

 embroidered belt, and was now quite set up again. Re- 

 solving to be quite an Indian for the time, I left my 

 game bag in the camp. 



We set off, sixteen in number, all on foot, some of the 

 Indians with firearms, others with bows and arrows, with 

 which they can hit their mark at a great distance. I 

 attached myself to one of the young men with a bow 

 and arrows, and, as we could not understand each other's 

 language, we proceeded in silence. Each of us had pro- 

 visions, which we ate as we went along. It may have 

 been about noon when we saw a herd of deer. My com- 

 panion went round to gain the wind of them, and shot a 

 couple with his unerring arrows. Away flew the others 

 in headlong fright, coming directly towards me, in such 

 blind haste, that the leader of the herd, a fat buck of 

 eleven, was little more than ten paces off, when he dis- 

 covered me. My ball pierced his heart, and he fell 

 without a cry. The rest flew in all directions. 



We were obliged to return to the camp for horses to 

 carry our booty. My companion started off in a straight 

 line for the camp, which I should never have been able 



