DEER HUNTING. 339 



search through the greater part of the night, sometimes until the da^vn 

 of day, shooting from five to ten deer, should these animals be plenti- 

 ful. This kind of hunting proves fatal, not to the deer alone, but also 

 sometimes to wolves, and now and then to a horse or a cow, which may 

 have straggled far into the woods. 



Now, kind reader, prepare to mount a generous, full blood Virginian 

 Hunter. See that your gun is in complete order, for, hark to the sound of 

 the bugle and horn, and the mingled clamour of a pack of harriers ! Your 

 friends are waiting you, under the shade of the wood, and we must toge- 

 ther go driving the light-footed deer. The distance over which one has 

 to travel is seldom felt, when pleasure is anticipated as the result : so, 

 galloping we go pell-mell through the woods, to some well known place, 

 where many a fine buck has drooped its antlers under the ball of the 

 hunter's rifle. The servants, who are called the drivers, have already 

 begun their search. Their voices are heard exciting the hounds, and un- 

 less we put spurs to our steeds, we may be too late at our stand, and 

 thus lose the first opportunity of shooting the fleeting game, as it passes 

 by. Hark again ! The dogs are in chase, the horn sounds louder and 

 more clearly. Hurry, hurry on, or we shall be sadly behind ! 



Here we are at last ! Dismount, fasten your horse to this tree, 

 place yourself by the side of that large yellow poplar, and mind you do 

 not shoot me ! The deer is fast approaching ; I will to my own stand, 

 and he who shoots him dead wins the prize. 



The deer is heard coming. It has inadvertently cracked a dead 

 stick with its hoof, and the dogs are now so near it that it will pass in a 

 moment. There it comes ! How beautifully it bounds over the ground ! 

 What a splendid head of horns ! How easy its attitudes, depending, as, 

 it seems to do, on its own swiftness for safety ! All is in vain, however : 

 a gun is fired, the animal plunges and doubles with incomparable speed. 

 There he goes ! He passes another stand, from which a second shot, 

 better directed than the first, brings him to the ground. The dogs, the 

 servants, the sportsmen are now rushing forward to the spot. The hunter 

 who has shot it is congratulated on his skill or good luck, and the chase 

 begins again in some other part of the woods. 



A few lines of explanation may be required to convey a clear idea of 

 this mode of hunting. Deer are fond of following and retracing the 

 paths which they have formerly pursued, and continue to do so even af- 

 ter they have been shot at more than once. These tracks are discovered 



Y 2 



