▼1 INTRODUCTION. 



eighteen hundred to two thousand deer, from three to four 

 hundred bears, about fifty panthers and catamounts (quite 

 as ferocious, and not much less in size than the panther), 

 with scores of wolves and wildcats. And although now 

 incapable, owing to age and infirmities, of pursuing the 

 game with his wonted vigor, the " ruling passion" is still 

 strong ; for within the past few weeks his skill and perse- 

 verance have been rewarded by the capture, in his traps, 

 of an otter and a catamount, of the few now surviving his 

 former achievements. 



My task, though a "labor of love," is comparatively a 

 very humble one, and has been mainly confined to the 

 correction of grammatical errors ; for I desired as much 

 as possible to preserve the easy and rather peculiar style 

 of the Author, as it came from his own sturdy and un- 

 practised pen, because so plain and intelligible that he 

 who runs may read : figuratively speaking, merely lopping 

 out the weeds and bushes which tend to obstruct the 

 view over a landscape, glowing and radiant with native 

 beauties. 



The incidents of social and domestic life are drawn so 

 true to nature, and brought out so vividly to view, that 

 the reader, though even a child, can readily trace out the 

 full picture by the mere outline. From this cause his 

 stories are not only never without interest, but often touch 

 the feelings and enlist our sympathies before we are fully 

 aware of it; and thus it is that "truth is sometimes 

 stranger than fiction." 



His is the best and most captivating narrative of hunting 

 scenes that I ever read, because free from all attempts at 



