THK AVOXDERS OF THE SHORE. lo 



" Embraced his Eve in happy hour, 

 And every bird of Eden burst 

 In carol, everj' bud in flower," 



those marks were there ; the records of the "Age 

 of ice " ; slight truly ; to be effaced by the next 

 farmer who needs to build a wall ; but unmis- 

 takable, boundless in significance, like Crusoe's 

 one savage footprint on the sea-shore : and the 

 naturalist acknowledges the finger-mark of God, 

 and wonders, and worships. 



Happy, especially, is the sportsman Avho is 

 also a naturalist: for as he roves in pursuit of 

 his game, over hills or up the beds of streams 

 where no one but a sportsman ever thinks of 

 going, he will be certain to sec tilings note- 

 worthy, wliich tlie mere naturalist would never 

 find, simply because he could never guess that 

 they were there to be found. I do not speak 

 merely of the rare birds which may be shot, the 

 curious facts as to the habits of fish which may 

 be observed, great as these pleasures arc. I 

 speak of (he scenery, the weather, the geological 

 formation nf the country, its vegetation, and the 

 living habits of its denizens. A sportsman out 

 in all weathers, and often dependent for success 

 on liis knowledge of " what the sky is going to 



