MAMMALIA. 
36 
loaded with snow that the dark green of the few uncovered 
branches contrasts markedly with the uniform white of the tent- 
like cones from which they protrude. The silence is oppressive, 
and unbroken even by the sighing of the wind. The imagination, 
aided by the gathering shades of dusk, sees in this picture a 
primeval forest, amongst whose time-worn trunks stands the long 
deserted encampment of a bygone race. The well-preserved 
wigwams of spotless white, bleached by many winters, and pitched 
upon a door of alabaster, mark the final bivouac of an unremem- 
bered nation. 
Of the three methods of hunting heretofore considered, driving 
is the least sportsmanlike, and affords the Deer the smallest chance 
of escape. It requires neither skill nor cunning on the part of the 
executioner ; for patience, and a very ordinary amount of common 
sense, are the only essentials. It has this advantage, however, 
that the Deer, if wounded at all, is almost certain to be killed out- 
right, — which cannot be said of the other methods. 
Floating requires one of the actors to be expert in the use of 
the paddle, and is really quite an exciting diversion. This is partly 
because it can only be practised by night, and partly because each 
change of position of the boat, and each curve and bend of the 
shore brings new objects into the limited field of vision, keeping 
the expectation in a state of acute tension. But after all, when 
the novelty has worn off, one cannot help realizing that it is 
like carrying a lantern, any dark night, through a frontier pasture, 
and shooting the first unlucky cow that chances to stand in the 
path. 
In still-hunting , on the other hand, the hunter is thrown entirely 
upon his own resources, and it is the only method of taking the 
Deer in this Wilderness that requires any particular skill or labor 
on his part. The guide is here superfluous, unless it be to string 
up the game and find the shortest way to camp when the hunt is 
over. Still-hunting tends to toughen the muscles, to sharpen the 
