RANDOM THOUGHTS ON HUNTING. 283 



Thus thinking of the value of amusement in 

 general, and of hunting in particular, I cannot but 

 perceive with regret, that there are causes in opera- 

 tion which have destroyed, and are yet destroying, 

 the game to that extent, that, in another genera- 

 tion, this manly pastime will no longer be within 

 our reach. Sportsman as I am, I am not one of 

 those who regret the destruction of the forests, 

 when the subsistence of man is the purpose. It is 

 in the order of events, that the hunter should give 

 place to the husbandman ; and I do not complain 

 of it. It is the wanton, the uncalled-for destruc- 

 tion of forests and of game, that I reprehend. 



Undoubtedly, the most obvious cause of the 

 disappearance of the deer and other game, is the 

 destruction of the forests, that of the river swamps, 

 especially; which being, in their original state, 

 impracticable to horsemen, secured them against 

 pursuit ; for, if pressed by the hounds, they could 

 escape by swimming the rivers. These lands being 

 cleared and cultivated, no longer afford them 

 refuge. The same applies, though with less force, 

 to the thickly w r ooded high lands cleared for the 

 culture of cotton. Their feeding and hiding-places 

 being more contracted, they can more easily be 

 hemmed in and destroyed. The uncleared lands, 



too, bordering on the cultivated portions of the 



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