254 



Deer-Hunting on the Au Sable. 



with the water's surface, and in others it dips below it or inclines 

 gradually upward from it. These trees have been named, with a 

 nice sense of the fitness of terms, "sweepers." We found them such. 

 Our raft was guided by poles, one aft and the 

 other forward. A vigorous use of these might 

 have had something to do with determining the 

 course of the craft, but one was dropped and 

 another broken, and she forthwith proceeded to 

 work her sweet will of us. She 

 seemed possessed of a mis- 

 chievous intelligence, and if an 

 obstruction came in view, made 

 S3 directly for it. 

 There was gen- 

 erally room for 

 her to pass be- 



neath a "sweep- 

 er," which she 

 always did ; but 

 it was different 

 with the passen- 

 gers, who, with a couple of un- 

 happy dogs, were rasped from one 

 end of her to the other, some- 

 times into the water, and some- 

 times only half into it, but always 

 holding on to the logs with grim desperation. 



When the day arrived for breaking up camp, 

 we had hung up in our barn twenty-three deer, 

 my buck being accorded the place of honor at 

 the head of the line. Our dogs were rather 

 the worse for wear, but all were there, which is something un- 

 usual at the end of a hunt in this part of the country. The fact 

 is, the natives discourage hunting with dogs, if not, indeed, all 

 hunting in which they themselves do not participate. They place 

 meat which contains strychnine on the deer-paths, and also, when 

 occasion offers, shoot the dogs. A party of gentlemen from Bay 

 City came into our neighborhood a few days later than we 



