THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
ANECDOTE OF A WILD GOOSE. 
Captain S , of N. ,T., while lying at anchor with 
his schooner, off Poole’s Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, 
observed a Wild Goose, (which had been wounded) attempt 
to fly from the top of a hill to the water, but being unable 
to reach its place of destination, alighted about midway of 
the hill, where some cattle were grazing; one of which, 
seeing the stranger, and being unable exactly to make out 
its character, walked up, as is commonly the case with 
cattle, to smell it. The Goose, not fancying this kind of 
introduction, and perhaps unacquainted with the motives of 
the steer, seized him by the nose with so much firmness, 
as to set the creature bellowing, and actually ran off a 
considerable distance, before it could disengage this new 
enemy from its hold. The Goose then made for the bay, 
where it was chased by two boats from the schooner, and 
after much diversion, and an hour and a half’s labour, they 
succeeded in capturing it. 
COMFORTS OF A SHOOTER. 
After a long ride to your hunting ground, and find- 
ing plenty of game, to be ordered off by the proprietor 
after killing but one bird; or wandering a long distance, to 
be overtaken by a heavy and continuous rain, or to be con- 
fined to the house in consequence of a tremendous rain, 
after having travelled the day before, many miles with a 
view of having a good hunt. 
To be in company with persons, whose dogs always 
flush the game, when yours are at a stand; or to have a 
companion, who, the instant the dogs point, runs up and 
flushes the game, before you get within shooting distance, 
or (especially if you are a good shot, and himself an infe- 
rior one) makes it his common practice to shoot at the same 
bird with yourself, and claim it as having been killed by 
him. 
To have a companion, who, after shooting away all of 
his powder and shot, kills but one bird, attributes the fault 
to the gun, shot, or powder, and vends his angry feelings 
on his dog; or, after hunting all day, without seeing game, 
and towards evening the dogs come to a stand, expectation 
on tip-toe, but on coming up, find it to be either a lark, or 
where some partridges have been. 
To be in company with a stranger who professes to be a 
great shot, but on trial of his skill, proves him as likely to 
shoot yourself or the dog, as the bird in a mistake; or, to 
be intruded upon by some other sportsman, addicted to 
cursing, swearing, and hallooing at his dogs, sufficient to 
alarm a whole township. 
Comforting yourself in your ill-success, with a prospect 
of having a good supper; on your return to the tavern, 
wet, cold, and hungry, find the fire out, and the meal pre- 
pared for you to consist of stale bread, beefsteak burnt up, 
and pye with crust as tough as sole leather. 
MISCELLANY. 
A friend from Pendleton furnishes us with the fol- 
lowing item of sporting intelligence. A young gentleman 
in Bath county, Mr. John Williams, recently killed two 
large bucks, the horns of which were so interlocked that 
they could not disengage themselves. There is no doubt 
they had had a combat, and from observations which Mr. 
W. made, he supposed they had been in this condition for 
several days. The horns were so securely fastened, that 
he could not separate them without breaking off one of the 
prongs. The bucks were killed at two shots, and the one 
which escaped the first ball, carried the other about one 
hundred yards before he met a leaden death.” — Staunton, 
( Va.) Spectator. 
RETALIATION. 
It is well known that in the good old days of our 
fathers, when New England was truly the land of steady 
habits, there would occasionally spring up a volatile and 
fun-loving character, whose disposition and habits formed 
a striking contrast with the upright and conscientious bear- 
ing of the puritans. There were two farmers of this cast 
who lived very near each other ; one of them was the 
owner of very fine sheep, but who, having a decided anti- 
pathy to confinement would sometimes trespass on the en- 
closure of their master’s neighbour. The other having 
caught them in one of these overt acts, determined to in- 
flict summary vengeance on the intruders and their owner. 
With this intent he proceeded to catch them, and running 
his knife through one of their hind legs, between the ten- 
don and the bone, immediately above the knee joint, put 
the other leg through the hole. In this condition the 
woolly flock decamped, leaving one quarter less tracks than 
when they came. The feeder of sheep kept his own coun- 
sel; and soon after, his neighbour’s hogs having broken or 
dug into his enclosures, he took advantage of this opportu- 
nity for retaliation by cutting their mouths from ear to ear. 
In this way the four footed grunters, rather chop fallen, 
made their way to their own quarters. The owner of the 
swine soon made his appearance in a great rage, declaring 
his hogs were ruined, and that he would have redress. His 
neighbour made answer, that it was he who ruined them, 
“ For, the fact is, friend, I didn’t cut open them are hog’s 
mouths, but seeing my sheep running on three legs, they 
split their mouths a laughing.” 
