532 FORTY-POUU YEARS OP 



As he turned and began to walk from me, I became so 

 much afraid that I should lose him, that I was taken with 

 such a trembling, that I could scarcely hold my gun at an 

 aim. However, I did the best I could, and fired, when off 

 ran the buck at full speed. Proceeding to the place where 

 he stood when 1 shot at him, and finding by the hair and 

 blood left behind that he was considerably wounded, I 

 started the dog on the track before me, and followed the 

 buck more than a mile ; but could not get a sight of him. 

 However, I directed the dog to try his luck with him, 

 which he was very willing and even anxious to do. I had 

 to follow the footprints of the buck, which were very dim, 

 as he had taken his course along the Negro Mountain, 

 where the ground was so hard that he made but little 

 impression on it. 



After a long and tedious trailing, I found that the buck 

 had turned his course from the mountain, and was making 

 for Bear Creek, which is a tolerably large stream ; and I 

 could see that the deer was traveling at his best speed, to 

 keep clear of the dog. His tracks soon became much 

 plainer, on account of the softness of the ground, when 

 the buck was forced to take long jumps, at each one his 

 feet sinking deep in the soft ground, and enabling me to 

 follow at a rapid walk. 



After traveling four or five miles, hearing the dog at 

 full bay, I looked no more for the track, but ran to him 

 the shortest way I could ; and soon found him and the 

 buck standing in the creek. The latter had stabbed the 

 dog so severely with his sharp horns, that he would not go 

 within his reach any more, but stood at a safe distance, 

 and barked at him ; and if the buck attempted to run away, 

 he would seize him by the hams, whereupon he would turn 

 and horn the dog off. In that way the dog kept him there 

 nnti' I came to his assistance, when I shot the buck in tlie 

 head, ar-d killed him. He was the largest deer I believe 



