44 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



one time, he might have marked the places where the Deer 

 clears the velvet from his horns, by rubbing them against 

 the low stems of bushes, and where he frequently scrapes 

 the earth with his fore-hoofs; at another, he would have 

 betaken himself to places where persimons and crab-apples 

 abound, as beneath these trees the Deer frequently stops to 

 munch their fruits. During early spring, our hunter would 

 imitate the bleating of the doe, and thus frequently obtain 

 both her and the fawn ; or like some tribes of Indians, he would 

 prepare a Deer's head, placed on a stick, and creeping with 

 it amongst the tall grass of the prairies, would decoy the 

 Deer within reach of his rifle. But we have seen enough 

 of the still hunter. Let it suffice for me to add, that by 

 the mode pursued by him, thousands of Deer are annually 

 killed, many individuals shooting these animals merely 

 for the skin, not caring for even the most valuable portions 

 of the flesh, unless hunger, or a near market, induces them 

 to carry off the hams. 



The mode of destroying Deer by fire-light, or, as it is 

 named in some parts of the country, forest-light, never 

 fails to produce a very singular feeling in him who wit- 

 nesses it for the first time. There is something in it which 

 at times appears awfully grand. At other times a certain 

 degree of fear creeps over the mind, and even affects the 

 physical powers of him who follows the hunter through 

 the thick undergrowth of our woods, having to leap his 

 horse over hundreds of huge fallen trunks, at one time 

 impeded by a straggling grape-vine crossing his path, at 

 another squeezed between two stubborn saplings, whilst 

 their twigs come smack in his face, as his companion has 

 forced his way through them. Again, he every now and 

 then runs the risk of breaking his neck, by being suddenly 

 pitched headlong on the ground, as his horse sinks into a 

 hole, covered over with moss. But I must proceed in a more 

 regular manner, and leave my reader to judge whether 

 such a mode of hunting would suit his taste or not. 



The hunter has returned to his camp or his house, has 

 rested and eaten of his game. He waits impatiently for 

 the return of night. He has procured a quantity of pine- 

 knots, filled with resinous matter, and has an old frying- 

 pan, that, for aught I know to the contrary, may have been 

 used by his great-grandmother, in which the pine-knots are 

 to be placed when lighted. The horses stand saddled at 

 the door. The hunter comes forth, his rifle slung on his 

 shoulder, and springs upon one of them, while his son, or 

 a servant, mounts the other, with the frying-pan and the 

 pine-knots. Thus accoutred, they proceed towards the 

 interior of the forest. When they have arrived at the spot 

 where the hunt is to begin, they strike fire with a flint and 

 steel, and kindle the resinous wood. The person who 

 carries the fire, moves in the direction judged to be the 



best. The blaze illuminates the near objects, but the dis- 

 tant parts seem involved in deepest obscurity. The hun- 

 ter who bears the gun keeps immediately in front, and 

 after a while discovers before him two feeble lights, which 

 are procured by the reflection of the pine fire from the 

 eyes of an animal of the deer or wolf kind. The animal 

 stands quite still. To one, unacquainted with this strange 

 mode of hunting, the glare from its eyes might bring to 

 his imagination some lost hobgoblin that had strayed 

 from its usual haunts. The hunter, however, nowise intimi- 

 dated, approaches the object, sometimes so near as to dis- 

 cern its form, when raising the rifle to his shoulder, he 

 fires and kills it on the spot. He then dismounts, se- 

 cures the skin and such portions of the flesh as he may 

 want, in the manner already described, and continues his 

 search through the greater part of the night, sometimes 

 until the dawn of day, shooting from five to ten Deer, 

 should these animals be plentiful. 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, 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 together go driving the light-footed Deer. The dis- 

 tance 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 unless 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 beau- 

 tifully 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, how- 

 ever: a gun is fired, the animal plunges and doubles with 



