24 Deer and Antelope of 'North America 



the wilderness, the eagle and the raven; and 

 indeed of all the wild things furred, feathered, and 

 finned. 



There are many sides to the charm of big 

 game hunting ; nor should it be regarded as 

 being without its solid advantages from the stand- 

 point of national character. Always in our mod- 

 ern life, the life of a highly complex industrialism, 

 there is a tendency to softening of the fibre. This 

 is true of our enjoyments ; and it is no less true of 

 very many of our business occupations. It is not 

 true of such work as railroading, a purely modern 

 development, nor yet of work like that of those 

 who man the fishing fleets ; but it is preeminently 

 true of all occupations which cause men to lead 

 sedentary lives in great cities. For these men it 

 is especially necessary to provide hard and rough 

 play. Of course, if such play is made a serious 

 business, the result is very bad ; but this does not 

 in the least affect the fact that within proper 

 limits the play itself is good. Vigorous athletic 

 sports carried on in a sane spirit are healthy. The 

 hardy out-of-door sports of the wilderness are even 

 healthier. It is a mere truism to say that the 

 qualities developed by the hunter are the qualities 

 needed by the soldier ; and a curious feature of 

 the changed conditions of modern warfare is that 

 they call to a much greater extent than during 

 the two or three centuries immediately past, for 



