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 overwith 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 
