242 Deer-Hunting on the Au Sable. 



revealed the tortuous course of the Au Sable. This description would 

 seem to apply well enough to the sketch I have made, but it was taken 

 from a higher bluff some few miles further down the river. From any 

 similar elevation upon its banks the scene would be the same. Save 

 that the river gains in volume as it travels, its scenery throughout 

 almost its entire length does not vary. It is a succession of inter- 

 minable twists and turns past high or low bluffs of sand, long reaches 

 of "cedar-swamp," and " sweepers" innumerable. This singular river 

 is one that knows neither droughts nor freshets, which is always cold, 

 but never freezes, and which will always preserve its wildness and its 

 desolation, since, in the future, the wilderness through which it flows 

 will be even wilder and more desolate than it is now. 



The first evening in camp, around the council lamp, was spent 

 in discussing the prospects of the morrow, in shooting over again all 

 the deer that had been shot upon previous occasions, in comparing the 

 target shooting of the day, and in the assignment by the captain of 

 each man to his position on the river. Curtis and two of our party 

 were to " put out the dogs," and the rest were to be stationed at the 

 different run-ways. This explains the method of hunting. The river 

 for a certain number of miles was divided into run-ways or points, 

 at which deer, when hard pressed by the dogs, would probably take 

 to the water and afford a chance for a shot. The dogs, twelve in 

 number, were divided among those who were to have charge of them 

 for the day, and they took them in various directions into the forest. 

 When a fresh and promising track was discovered, a dog was let 

 loose upon it, or perhaps two dogs, and the deer, after a run of 

 greater or less duration, took to the river in order to elude pursuit. 

 If it went in at a guarded run-way, it stood an excellent chance of 

 being shot ; but, of course, a large majority of deer driven in entered 

 the river above or below, or crossed it shortly after reaching it. 



A tick filled with straw and laid upon the floor makes an 

 excellent bed, and sportsmen's consciences are always good, for they 

 sleep with exceeding soundness., The ventilation of the apartment was 

 generous in the extreme. The roof was tight, but all around were 

 the open chinks between the logs, and through these the stars could 

 be seen by anybody that had nothing better to do than look at them. 

 Up through the middle of the floor and out through a big hole at the 

 ridge-pole went the stove-pipe, always hot enough to worry an 



