392 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 
and struck an object within two miles of camp, which I knew 
was on the way, and then I spent two hours or more circling 
round on a section of land; every half hour or so I would pass 
close by the object, with the same bearing and distance as the 
first time. Though I was perfectly familiar with every object on 
this portion of the prairie, nothing at this time looked natural ex- 
cept the stake stuck in a little mound or ant-hill, with that ever- 
lasting owl sitting upon it. That looked natural, and I knew I 
could leave it in the proper direction for camp, but before long 
the inevitable owl on the stake would again appear not a hun- 
dred feet away on my right. At length I detected the faint trail 
of the wagon, which I knew had gone out over the same ground 
that morning. I dismounted, carefully examined for prints of 
the horse’s feet ; and when found, I discovered I was headed the 
same way they had gone. No one who has not tried it, can ap- 
preciate how difficult it is to make the inclination yield to the 
judgment. I felt that I was headed directly for camp. I knew, 
from the evidence before me, that I was faced the other way. 
Judgment prevailed, and I carefully followed the faint back trail, 
and in half an hour I reached camp just before dark. Then and 
not till then did familiar objects look natural. I had been lost. 
The mental faculties had become bewildered. Why people in 
this condition should incline to wander in a circle, it is not my 
place now to inquire, but such is frequently though probably not 
always the case. Nor does it seem to make much difference 
whether one is lost in the woods or on the prairie, the same sys- 
tem or the want of it in bewilderment seems to prevail. It 
comes on when one is not suspecting it, or looking out for it, else 
by watchfulness it might be guarded against. 
Frequently in this kind of prairie hunting, one hunter may 
drive the deer upon another. The instant, therefore, a shot is 
heard, the hunter should stop and remain perfectly still. If he 
does not move, the deer may come directly upon him if he is in 
their selected course, without recognizing him, and he may get a 
shot as it passes, or what is much more likely, he may trace its 
course at a distance, and watch it to a new bed. 
“« T was returning towards camp one evening,” said my friend, 
who was an expert at this mode of hunting the deer, and enjoyed 
it more than any other, ‘‘ slowly walking my horse along a high 
ridge in the prairie, when I discovered a large buck on the op- 
posite ridge, half a mile away. He was evidently intently watch- 
ing me. He stood in a narrow belt of grass which had been left 
