60 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



animal being all reliance, the owner determined that 

 the confidence shall not be misplaced. With the true- 

 hearted sportsman, who loves hunting for the pleasure 

 it affords, and the opportunities of studying nature as 

 it emanates from the Creator's hands, carnage when 

 useless is detestable ; unnecessarily taxing the endur- 

 ance of his steed, or paining it with uncalled-for 

 punishment, is a crime he would no more be guilty of 

 than the honest man of despoiling his friend. Again, 

 your gun or rifle, ever a willing servant when properly 

 taken care of, requires no small amount of attention : 

 to no other hands than your own trust it to be cleaned. 

 However high your birth, delicate your nurturing, or 

 boundless your means, to do without the assistance of 

 hirelings, and rely entirely on yourself, is in no way 

 derogatory ; on the contrary, it is deserving of commen- 

 dation, and the benefit that will result in after life from 

 such lessons cannot be too highly estimated. I have 

 known a few months of wild Western life do more good 

 in forming a character than years passed in cities or 

 continental tour ; for here the fop forgets his folly, 

 and the timid and nervous becomes self-reliant. 



Imagine spread before you an immense plain ; 

 all around, in whatever direction you look, the same 

 expanse of level country stretches before you. Such 

 is the prairie. The dear old ocean, as viewed from 



