CARIACUS VIRGINIANUS. 
2 7 
present work ; hence the methods practised in the Adirondacks will 
alone be described. 
There are three principal ways in which Deer are hunted in this 
Wilderness, namely : by floating , by driving (hounding), and by still- 
hunting. 
Floating consists in paddling up to a Deer, at night, with a light 
called a jack fastened above the bow of the boat, and so arranged 
that it casts the whole light ahead, leaving the boat and contents in 
exa gg er ated darkness. The jack of our ancestors (used even within 
the brief period of my own recollection), was a very simple affair, 
constructed where occasion required. It consisted of a torch, or 
sometimes a tallow candle, fastened upon a piece of bark, and backed 
by a bark reflector. This rude illuminator was attached to a stick, 
three or four feet long, that stood upright in the bow. The stick, or 
standard of the primitive jack, still remains, and now supports a 
lantern which is closed in on three sides so that all the light shall be 
thrown in front. Some sort of a reflector is generally used to con- 
centrate and project the rays to a greater distance. Sometimes the 
lieht is fastened to the hat. 
Two people constitute a floating party, and the modus operandi is 
as follows : The sportsman sits on the front seat, with his legs tucked 
under the bow in a position that is, at the start, anything but agree- 
able, and becomes distressingly uncomfortable as hour after hour 
drags slowly on. He dare not move lest the noise thus made should 
alarm the Deer. The guide sits in the stern and must be expert 
with the paddle, for it is his duty to propel the boat steadily and 
noiselessly within easy range of the wary Deer. 
The locality is usually selected in the day-time, and is generally 
some marsh-bordered bay, abounding in lily-pacls, or a similar place 
along the banks of a sluggish stream On nearing the feeding- 
ground not a word is spoken, not even in a whisper, and the hunters 
strain eye and ear to discover the whereabouts of the quarry. The 
light is turned in such a way that it covers the shore as the boat 
