, and observed him run with great speed, sometimes looking back, as
if he expected to be pursued, till he reached the woods. He could not
conceive the cause of the sudden alarm of the bear, but congratulated
himself on his escape, when he saw his own track torn to pieces by the
furious animal; and he learned from the whole adventure never to suffer
his rifle to be for a moment unloaded.
HUNTING SCENES IN THE CANADIAN WOODS.
B. A. WATSON.
[As the literature of travel necessarily includes the deeds of
the hunter in the haunts of wild animals, we have included
among our selections a number of hunting scenes in different
countries. The following incidents from a hunter's experience
are from a popular work of sporting life, Watson's "The
Sportsman's Paradise, or the Lake Land of Canada." The following
is an exciting story of a deer-hunt on a Canadian lake.]
The forenoon of the next day, October 7, was spent in trout-fishing,
grouse-shooting, and exploring the surrounding country. The captain
conducted me about half a mile up the side of a steep hill, which had
its base on Long Lake, to another lake situated at the top of this hill
or mountain. While I recognize the fact that all mountain lakes occupy
different planes or levels, some higher and some lower, still it seemed
very unusual to climb the face of a steep hill, commencing at one lake,
and find another just where you had expected to reach the hill-top.
This lake was nearly round, and probably somewhat less than one-half
mile in diameter. We saw during our morning peregrinations many old
moose-tracks, and also many spots in the woods where these animals had
browsed; while a few of these moose indications were certainly of recent
origin.
The captain thought it wise to tarry in our present camp several days,
to kill deer and dry the venison, in order that we might have a supply
of meat while engaged in moose-hunting, independent of that which we
might be able to kill during this period.
We had unanimously agreed that it was inexpedient to take dogs with us
on the moose-chase. In this particular our experience fully confirmed
the wisdom of our conclusion. The moose cannot be driven to water by
deer-hounds, or any other species of dog with which I am familiar; and,
therefore, had we taken these animals with us, they could only have
served to announce our presence to the game which we sought, without
being able to rende
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