i5o A SPORTING PARADISE 



and prairie-dog. I remembered the story of 

 the traveller who was filled with fear when 

 aroused from sleep by a chorus of these whistlers 

 how he expected to hear the Indian war-cry, and 

 be led to a cruel death ; and I grew eager to 

 attribute my fears to some unknown denizen of 

 those woods. 



" Far away behind me stretched a large lake, 

 while below lay the swamp with its drowned 

 timber, leaving in places patches of open ground. 

 The natural instinct of the hunter is to seek 

 cover, whether it is needful for self-preservation 

 or necessary to waylay the quarry. 



" Carefully examining the loading of my rifle, 

 I worked my way up a steep, rocky hill, and 

 concealed myself behind a large boulder, and 

 then searched the woods diligently. The noise 

 ceased almost directly I had taken my stand, 

 and though I waited for half an hour as long 

 as I dared with the darkness coming on my 

 curiosity seemed doomed to remain unsatisfied. 

 It is phenomenal that sounds come and go in an 

 inexplicable manner in the bush. 1 have often 

 stood near a deer-trail, listening to the baying 

 of the hounds and the long bounding strides 

 of a buck. First the sounds would appear close 



