370 WILD SPORTS IN THE FAR WEST. 



have been with him ; there was only one point on 

 which we disagreed; I was passionately fond of field 

 sj)orts, and he often severely blamed my useless loiter- 

 ing about in the woods, seriously representing to me 

 that I could not go on so for ever, and that I should be 

 forced, sooner or later, to settle somewhere, and become 

 a useful and reasonable member of society. I saw 

 clearly enough, on such occasions, that he was right, and 

 was often incUned to accept the brotherly offers which 

 he made, and to hang up the rifle, and take to the axe ; 

 but I had become too fond of the wild unsteady hfe ; 

 besides, a burning desire to revisit my native land pre- 

 vented me, and my love of change Avas now stronger 

 than any other feeling ; I took up my rifle, threw my 

 luggage over my shoulder, shook hands all round, and 

 followed the course of the Fourche le Fave on my way 

 to Little Rock. 



On arriving at the mouth of the river, I was unde- 

 cided whether I should continue my course by land or 

 water. Unluckily, however, I found good shooting- 

 ground there ; so, throwing my bundle under a tree, I 

 formed a hut of loose bark, and began shooting again 

 to my heart's content. 



The end of June came. My provisions had latterly 

 much diminished, as I had shot nothing for several 

 days, and as the meat was soon spoilt by the heat 

 unless it was well dried, I began to get tired of 

 sport, and resolved to shoot only one more deer for 

 provision, then go to Little Rock, take up my letters, 

 and come to some decision as to my future course. 



The intention of shooting one more deer seemed this 

 time to be easier conceived than executed, and I lived 



