570 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



finished, as beautiful a string of fish as one could wish to 

 look at lay upon the wharf, the sight of which I admired 

 more than I possibly could the taste. The charm was soon 

 broken by the old cord-wainer, who proceeded to divide our 

 spoils into two equal parts. This I protested should not 

 be; but he said it was all right, for if luck had favored him 

 the most, the difference was but very small, and as we were 

 partners, I was entitled to my half. I could not consent, 

 however, to thus deprive him of his game, and settled the 

 matter by picking up four out of the pile of perhaps fifteen 

 or twenty, and telling him that was more than I could use. 

 We shook hands and parted, with a warmth of fueling 

 which, under other circumstances, it might have taken a 

 long time to engender. 



I refer to this incident to illustrate the feeling and 

 friendship which should always prevail among sportsmen, 

 whether hunting or fishing. He was a man after my own 

 heart, and I only regret that opportunity never permitted 

 me to meet him again. He had a great heart, and betw^een 

 us there at once grew up a fraternal feeling; a cord of sym- 

 pathy was drawn out between us which made us brothers, 

 and would have prompted us to make great sacrifices for 

 each other, if need had been. Would that all sportsmen 

 could thus feel and act toward each other. 



Good-feeling is indispensable to the enjoyment of the 

 sportsman's life. Cordiality alone can make it enjoyable. 

 Selfishness and egotism beget dislike; harmony begets cor- 

 diality; discord engenders dislike, which not unfrequently 

 degenerates to hatred. 



Allowance may be made for the enthusiasm of the neo- 

 phyte, and even approval of it; for who will ever forget the 

 exultation which he himself felt when he saw his first Deer 

 fall to his rifle ? Had he not felt exultant then, it would 

 have bespoken a lack of spirit, which one needs to become 

 a sportsman; nor will he ever cease to feel a high degree of 

 gratification at the moment of a successful capture. But 

 to exult in this to the disparagement and discomfort of 

 one's companions is what I wish to discourage. 



