168 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by George Shiras, 3d 



A VARYING HARE IN A STRIKING 

 ATTITUDE 



Rarely is this animal seen in sunlight^ for it 

 feeds by night, but the white clover in the 

 camp garden made it a frequent daylight 

 visitor (see page 190). 



skiff was prepared for the experiment, 

 with a few green boughs in front screen- 

 ing the camera. 



On entering the lake , an unusually 

 large buck was seen standing upon a sub- 

 merged rock opposite. Paddling through 

 the reeds slowly, we came to open water 

 fronting the animal, and as the bow 

 cleared the reeds we were within forty 

 feet of it, as it stood in a striking atti- 

 tude. At this instant the boat, fortu- 

 nately, ran on top of a sunken log, 

 steadying it for the picture. 



Quickly the cap was removed from the 

 lens and then replaced. The deer, how- 

 ever, detecting this slight movement, ran 

 a short distance, when it stopped, with 

 head high in the air, gazing anxiously in 

 our direction. 



TWO PICTURES SPOILED AT ONCE 



Meanwhile I had replaced the slide, 

 reversed the plate-holder, and had time 

 to make a second exposure, when with a 



single leap the animal cleared the bushes 

 fringing the water. 



More excited than if I had killed this 

 splendid specimen, the slide was picked 

 up to cover the last exposed plate, when 

 I was stunned at seeing the light-colored 

 negative staring me in the face, for I had 

 withdrawn the outer slide while watch- 

 ing the deer moving off, thereby destroy- 

 ing the first negative and not exposing 

 the second. 



Jake, of course, could not understand 

 how it was possible to spoil two pictures 

 by a single mistake; so, without any 

 undue discussion about the manner in 

 which I had blundered, the boat was 

 headed for the slough, where a large doe 

 was ready for the next effort. Some- 

 what suspicious of the partly screened 

 boat, she allowed time for the removal of 

 the cap, but before it could be replaced 

 she ran back into the forest. On devel- 

 oping the plate, there could be seen the 

 faint outline of the doe, and then a long 

 white streak representing her retreat. 



Following this short experience, it was 

 apparent that only by the best of luck 

 was it possible to get pictures of deer 

 with such an outfit, and while just such 

 luck had favored the initial effort, "buck 

 fever" of the earlier days had brought 

 almost complete failure. 



THE PIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS OP 

 ITS KIND 



Several seasons previously, a friend 

 of mine had procured a 4 x 5 outfit, called 

 the "Schmidt Detective camera," having 

 a high-grade, rectilinear, Dallmeyer lens, 

 with a fairly rapid shutter, which could 

 be set and released by a string and button 

 on the outside of the box. This appara- 

 tus, which was the first of its kind, 

 equaled the modern ones in effectiveness, 

 and for my purpose proved very much 

 better, for the plate-holders and lens 

 were inclosed in a light, tight, waterproof 

 box. 



Using this camera, during the next 

 season I was able to get several good pic- 

 tures of deer. The lens, however, was 

 of short focus, so it was necessary to get 

 within about twenty-five feet of an ani- 

 mal for satisfactory results, and this was 

 difficult in bright sunlight. So then I 

 tried sitting in a blind near a runway or 



