TURKEY SHOOTING WITH DOGS. 183 



amusing and convenient sports in the world. As soon 

 as the dogs find a gang, as they are called, they run 

 amongst them, barking furiously ; although a turkey 

 can run fast, he cannot outrun a dog ; — so by way of 

 escape, he flies heavily to the nearest tree, generally 

 seeking the highest branches, and looks inquisitively 

 from his exalted station, on the dogs jumping and 

 yelping round the trunk. It now requires some good 

 management on the part of the sportsman, for should 

 the turkey catch sight of him, he will fly away again. 

 The best plan is to make as much noise as possible, 

 and, if the party is large enough to surround the tree, 

 or the gang, breaking through the bushes with loud 

 shouts ; and while the bird is confused by the strange 

 noises, the sportsman, having got near enough, must 

 slip behind a tree. Then it requires a steady hand and 

 correct eye to hit, with a single ball, a turkey at the 

 top of a tree, from 130 to 140 feet high; it is not 

 absolutely necessary that he be killed outright, for if a 

 wing is wounded, his heavy weight will infallibly kill 

 him in his fall. A hen turkey weighs from nine to 

 fourteen pounds ; the cock from sixteen to twenty, 

 and even twenty-four. I killed three, and returned 

 heavily laden home. 



On the 21st December came the last load from I'An- 

 guille, and another attack of ague for me. This was 

 altogether too much, — I decided on bidding adieu to 

 the unhealthy swamps, and trying the hills, and on the 

 4th January put my plan in execution. Saint had 

 taken a strong liking to my double-barrelled rifle, and 

 repeatedly wished to exchange something for it. This 

 system of exchange is quite a passion with the Amer- 



