380 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



For durability buckskin is as important as it is to 

 the hero of a sporting romance. It is also very 

 good for dry cold weather. For warm or wet weather 

 it is a nuisance. Still it is soft against brush, and pants 

 will be much better if faced in front with it to half way 

 above the knee and two thirds the way around on 

 each side. For this purpose it should always be well 

 smoked so as to dry soft when wet. 



The simpler and lighter your dress the better. An 

 immense butcher-knife, hatchet, pistol, watch, whisky- 

 flask, etc. etc. etc., may, like the fifth wheel of a wagon, 

 come handy once in a year or two. But it hardly pays 

 to pack a fifth wheel around with one. Everything 

 unnecessary, all leggings, fancy clothes, and " toggery" 

 of every sort, are nuisances. The most valuable know- 

 ledge in the world is to know what we can dispense 

 with. And nowhere is this more valuable than in 

 getting up a still-hunting outfit. 



Every kind of sole-leather add to your litany. Go 

 not astray on " deer-stalker's shoes," " English walking- 

 shoes," or "hunting-boots" of any kind. If you can- 

 not wear moccasins, get a pair of shoes made with 

 soft heels and soles; the latter projecting at the edge 

 so that a new piece of soft leather may be added in a 

 few moments with an awl and buckskin thong when 

 the first is worn through. India-rubber overshoes are 

 very good worn loose without boots, but are uncom- 

 fortable on the feet. 



Every one who hunts much should get his feet 

 accustomed to moccasins. When the foot is once 

 toughened to them, which, with care in beginning 

 gradually, will occur in two weeks and often less, 

 nothing can equal them for quiet and rapid traveling. 

 On some kinds of ground it is almost impossible to 



