BIRCH BROWSINGS 



gunners soon got wind of it, and from far 

 and near were wont to pour in during the 

 spring, and to slaughter both old and young. 

 This practice soon had the effect of driving 

 the pigeons all away, and now only a few 

 pairs breed in these woods. 



Deer are still met with, though they are 

 becoming scarcer every year. Last winter 

 near seventy head were killed on the Beaver 

 Kill alone. I heard of one wretch, who, 

 finding the deer snowbound, walked up to 

 them on his snowshoes, and one morning 

 before breakfast slaughtered six, leaving 

 their carcasses where they fell. There are 

 traditions of persons having been smitten 

 blind or senseless when about to commit 

 some heinous offense, but the fact that this 

 villain escaped without some such visitation 

 throws discredit on all such stories. 



The great attraction, however, of this 

 region is the brook trout, with which the 

 streams and lakes abound. The water is 

 of excessive coldness, the thermometer indi- 

 cating 44° and 45° in the springs, and 47° or 

 48° in the smaller streams. The trout are 

 generally small, but in the more remote 

 branches their number is very great. In 

 such localities the fish are quite black, but 

 89 



