AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
281 
AN ADVENTURE. 
How direful are the effects of revenge. 
It was on as beautiful an autumnal day, as ever ushered 
in the Indian summer, that I made an excursion after game 
among a groupe of mountains, or rather on a link in the great 
chain of the Alleghany range, which runs in a north easterh 
direction in that part of Pennsylvania, which bounds the 
New York line. I had been a resident there for some years ; 
and, when leisure from my arduous avocations permitted, 
I always indulged myself with the favourite amusement of 
hunting. 
I said the day was beautiful. When I arose from my 
bed, the stars were yet twinkling in the azure space above, 
while feebly, but most beautifully, the sparkling frost which 
spread the earth as a woolly carpet, reflected' back, like my- 
riads of gems, its borrowed light to the heavens; not a 
breath of air disturbed the fading leaves of the wood, and the 
reigning silence was broken only by the monotonous tone 
of a neighbouring cascade, while the pearly horizon of the 
east, betokened the approach of that hour which was to give 
life and activity to a slumbering world; my heart was light, 
and nerved with youthful vigor, and the healthfulness of the 
opening morn, I felt as though I could wield my rifle 
with unerring aim. Ere the sun arose I eat my breakfast; 
and after giving all necessary orders for the day, to the man 
at my saw-mill, I accoutred myself for hunting and sallied 
forth alone among the hills in search of game. Bending 
my way towards some salt springs which were within a few 
miles of my dwelling, I kept the mountain ridge with the 
expectation of encountering some large game, until I found 
it necessary to descend to that part of the valley which con- 
tained the springs. A few years previous to the above pe- 
riod, these springs were resorted to by herds of deer and 
other animals, for the purpose of licking the saline sedi- 
ment which every where adhered to the roots of those 
trees, bushes, and stones that were washed by the saltwater 
while flowing down the vale, in consequence of which, 
hunters for many miles around, made frequent excursions 
to this spot, in order to lie in ambush for such animals as 
might approach this salt-lick, until at last it had become so 
notorious, and frequented by so many hunters, that a visit 
here was sometimes attended with danger, and no longer 
scarcely with success. This spot had been no doubt for 
ages, and until within a few years, a place of resort, not 
only for deer, but for other animals of the ruminant order, 
such as elk, moose, &c. but as the country became popu- 
lated by settlers, no traces of these animals (except the deer) 
were left, other than here and there *a horn of an elk or 
moose was found, and preserved by the neighbours, and placed 
over their fire places, as relics of days gone by. Here, too, 
perhaps in ages past, the Mastodon in his majesty and strength 
strode with giant step, uninterrupted in his course, the mon- 
arch and terror of this then unknown wilderness. 
I had frequently in my hunting excursions, steered my 
course for these springs in the same track which I took on 
the above period, and mostly killed one or two deer before 
I reached my destined spot, but always depended more on 
my success when laying in ambush behind my favourite logs 
near the spring, where I had for years killed many deer. 
The season, however, of watchfulness .commenced usually 
at twilight in the evening, as these animals seldom wander- 
ed before that period, and as moonlight nights were prefer- 
able for these ruminants to browse, and visit the salt licks, 
it was not only more interesting to lay in ambuscade for 
them, but insured a greater degree of success, and it frequently 
happened, that when they visited the springs undisturbed. 
