84 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



brow the bard-earned laurels of a long apprenticesbip to tbe 

 tricks of tbe field. If any of our readers, bowever, sbould only 

 aspire to tbe office of Pot Hunter^ we would advise bim to put 

 tbis book aside, as we can assure bim tbat be will not be inter- 

 ested in many of its details, except, perbaps, tbose portions of 

 it devoted to tbe Trapping and Netting of game, or tbe different 

 metbods to be pursued by tbe Sbooter wben anxious, from 

 some particular circumstance, to make a large count. But, 

 even tben, a mind sucb as tbis selfislt character possesses is 

 often too obtuse to understand or practice tbe principles laid 

 down for tbe guidance of a Gentleman Sportsman. 

 \ Of all tbe disagreeable characters tbat a well-bred Sportsman 

 is likely to be thrown in contact with, tbat of a Pot Hunter is 

 tbe most disgusting, tbe most selfish, the most unmanly, the 

 most heartless; a being who alone can pride himself in a ruth- 

 less desire to destroy, and, as it were, to lay waste, all animated 

 nature, by every and any means within bis grasp, without re- 

 gard to etiquette, humanity, law, or even the common decen- 

 cies of life. Sucb are the real feelings of a Pot Hunter^ in the 

 true sense of tbe word ; and his boasted motto. Fill the bag, and 

 damn the means, sbould be chalked upon his craven back in 

 well-defined characters, as a warning to all young Sportsmen 

 to shun bis company, and detest bis vices. Perhaps our read- 

 ers may think we have portrayed a being so base, so low, as 

 seldom or never to be met with, except among those mercenary 

 scamps who shoot for tbe markets. But rest assured, my gentle 

 friends, that the picture is not overdrawn, for there are dozens 

 of just sucb fellows in every shooting community; and, per- 

 baps, we can even find some such among our own Sporting 

 acquaintances, who hesitate at nothing to fill their bags, in 

 season or out of season, and, in reality, practice in secret tbe 

 open and avowed motto of tbe professed Pot Hunter. "We 

 have met with sucb characters, and doubt not but our Sporting 

 friends have done the same, and perbaps been alike distressed 

 and mortified at their behavior in the field. Wben caught, 

 however, with such would-be Sportsmeyi, we have but one course 

 to pursue — resign the field for tbe day, or take our Dogs and 

 quietly put off' in another direction to pursue our sports soli- 

 tary and alone. 



