The Press. — London, England, 1855-09-29 00:00:00

93 - 4 mended him to the public regard, although in our opinion he has shown more power and extent of range in his " Introduction to the Literature of Europe." His moral qualities are, however, best seen in his " Constitutional History ;" and when the second volume comes before us we shall remark on some features in its composition deserving of critical consider ation. In the meanwhile, we must express Our hearty satisfaction at beholding the works of this excellent author brought before the public in a form which will place their learn ing, sound sense, and manly eloquence, within the range of a vast class of readers. Sporting Adventures in the New World ; or, Days and Nights of Moose-hunting in the Pine Forests of Acadia. By Lieut. Campbell Hardy. London : Hurst and Blackett. A Goon book of Mild sports is attractive at any time. As we read the fresh narratives of ad venturous sportsmen who, forsaking the hackneyed preserves of the old country, seek for more perilous sport and nobler game in other lands, all the dangers, troubles, and in conveniences of camp life are forgotten in a moment. We scent the fresh air of the forest; we feel the cool hill breezes fluttering past us, and hear the murmurs of the mountain falls as they rend their changeful ways o'er rooky steeps; we see the bark hut of the sports man pitched on the sloping bank of some elb•ar patient stream winding sleekly along the foot of the ranges, while the thin blue smoke of the camp fire lazily curls in vapoury wreaths among the broad interlacing branches, and the vast forest stretches away in the background o'er mountain and plain in majes tic masses of dark foliage. In presence of such images, the natural love of sport, and the desire for the freedom of bush life, over come all other feelings. The closeness of a town appears stifling, the restraints of civilised life look ridiculous, and you long for fresh air and freedom, while you envy the sportsmen whose lot leads them to chase elephants in Ceylon, buffalo in North America, or moose deer in Nova Scotia. Lieutenant Hardy, the author of these volumes, being stationed at Halifax, appears to have made several incursions to the forests of Nova Scotia for the purpose of hunting the moose. The forests of Nova Scotia abound in moose, catiboo, bears, wolves, woodcock, partridge, snipe, and wild duck, while the rivers are teeming with sahnon and other fish, so that his sport was of the best kind, and in the details which he has given us there is much to interest and amuse. He is a thorough sportsman, patient, skilful, and active, and relates his adventures with the gusto of a man who enjoys the life. The moose deer, which is the principal subject of these volumes, is the monarch of the North American forests, which boast of no lions, tigers, or elephants. At full growth the bull-moose looks tall on the legs, with short neck and disproportionate long head, with massive and palmated antlers, large black expressive eyes, and with a dark brown or glossy black bristly coat He stands about seventeen hands high, and weighs from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds. Though very shy and wild, they are easily tamed if caught young, and tyeedily become the most domestic of pets. The author was fortunate enough to obtain one young calf, which was so tame that ho would come into a room and jump several times over chairs, backwards and forwards, for a piece of bread. He had a great penchant for tobacco-smoke, which, if puffed in his face, would canse him to rub his head with great satisfaction against the individual. His gambols were sometimes very amusing. Throwing back his ears and dropping the under jaw, he would gallop madly up and down on a grass-plot, now and then rearing up on his hind legs, and striking ferociously with his fore feet at the trunks of trees, or anything within reach, vary ing the amusement by an occasional shy and kick behind at some imaginary object. No palings could keep him from gardens, in which, when not watched, he would con• atantly be found, revelling on the boughs of currant and lilac bushes ; in fact. tasting fruit and flowers most indis criminately. On being approached for the purpose of being turned out, the cunning little brute would immediately lie down, from which position, his hide being as callous as that of a jackass, ho could be got up with difficulty. Iu hunting moose there are five methods, says Lieutenant Hardy—stalking them, call ing them, running them Clam in snow-shoes, THE PRESS. hunting them with dogs, or snaring them; the first three are "orthodox," the last two " rank poaching"—while the best period of the year for sport is at the fall : The bull is, at this season, in his Full vigour, and is truly a noble animal to behold. Adorned with massive antlers, and evincing a roaming, wild, awl sometimes fierce disposition, there is more excitement attendant on shooting a bull•mnoose in the fall, than at any other time of the year. The delicious days and mild nights, particularly during the Indian summer, are much preferable to the cold, varia ble weather of the winter ; while the science and wood craft displayed by the Indian hunter in discovering and following a moose track, in places where, even by the closest scrutiny, the eye of the white man cannot distinguish the foot-print ; and the delightful ease of walking in moccasins over the elastic carpeting of moss in the fir forests, and on the soft, moist, newly-fallen leaves in the hard woods, give to this season undeniable precedence. In the fall, too, additional sport may be obtained at night, and sometimes even during the day, by calling the bull moose. Most of the Indians, who make it their business to accompany the sportsman into the woods, are good hands at calling. The moose " call" is a trumpet, made by rolling a sheet of birch-bark into a cone. No material has been found to equal birch-bark for this purpose. Metal will not answer, producing a sound too shrill and ringing. The Indian commences to call at sundown, ceasing when it becomes dark, till moonrise, as a moose coming up when there was not sufficient light to see along the barrels would almost certainly escape. The very best time to call is towards morning—for an hour before dawn, and for a short time after daybreak. At this time moose appear to be less cautious, and more eager to answer the call than they are in the early part of the night. • • • • Nothing can be more productive of feelings of excitement than sitting, wrapped in blankets, on the edge of a forest girt plain, the moon peeriug through mists of gently-falling dew and faintly illuminating the wild scene, now flashing on the white surface of a granite boulder, and then spark ling in the water of the swamp, and on the bedewed mounds of moss, and clumps of ground-laurels; nothing can be more exciting, when the wild notes of the Indian's call, rending the calm air, have dispersed over the echoing forest, than the succeeding momenta of listening for an answer. You scarcely believed your ears to have been capable of such exertion, if so it may be termed. And then, when far away from over the hills and through the dense fir•forests comes the booming answer of a bull moose, when you hear the distant crashing of branches and the rattling the massive antlers against the trees, and when at length the monarch of the American forest emerges from the woods, and stands snorting and bellowing on the open barren, his proportions looming gigantic through the hazy atmosphere—then does the blood course through your veins as it never did before; and, scarcely knowing what is about to happen, you grasp the ready rifle, and crouch in the protecting bushes. In their first adventures, after many unsuc cessful efforts, the moose always scenting them, the lieutenant and his Indian at last hit off a good track:— We turned into the woods, at nearly the same spot that Williams and myself had done the day before, and soon found the fresh track of au immense herd of moose. The wind now blew steadily, and made melancholy music among the branches of the lofty hemlocks through which the chase led us, drowning the crackling of the frozen snow under our moccasins. Still, our utmost caution was ne. cessary, for the fine ear of the moose will, even in a gale of wind, detect the snapping of the smallest twig, or any noise foreign to the natural sounds of the forest, at a great distance. Now is the time to see the Indian in his element and on his mettle. See how his eyes glisten, as he bends down and scrutinises the tall, slender stem of a young maple, the red, juicy top of which has been bitten off at the height of some nine or ten feet front the ground. Now he stops and fingers the track, crumbling the lumps of snow dislodged by the huge foot, to tell the very minutes that have elapsed since the animal stood 'here. On we go, every foot stepping in the track of the leading Indian, our arms employed in carefully drawing aside the branches which impede our progress, and preventing the barrels of our guns from noisy contact with the stems, or boughs of the trees. The dense shrubbery of stunted evergreens, through which we had been worming our way for the last twenty minutes, appeared to be getting thinner, and we were about to emerge into an open space, with clumps of young hardwood interspersed through a lofty grove of pines and hemlocks, when Williams suddenly withdrew his foot from a step which would have exposed him, and stepped belling a young spruce, his excited lace beaming with delight as he beckoned we to advance. There sto , xl, or reposed, the stupendous animals in every variety of posture. Some were feeding, others standing lazily chewing the cud, and flapping their broad ears, now and then stooping to snatch a mouthful of the pure snow. About fifty yards distant, in a clump of tall dead ferns and briars, stood a huge bull, with a splendid coat. Levelling at him, I discharged both barrels of my smooth bore, one at and the other behind the shoulder. He dropped, and the rest of the yard, discovering their foes, plunged off through the bushes, knocking over the dead trees in their way as if they had been ninepins. An exciting chase follows, for the bull has yet life enough in him to lead them a hard gallop for some miles. But the most interesting phase of moose-shooting ib " calling" the moose, SATURDAY, and hearing the noble beast crush through bush and briar, grunting androariug in answer to the call : Paul commenced operations, by cautiously ascending a tall spruce fir which stood a few yards from the camp, and seated himself on a contorted oranch near the top. Breaking off a dead bough with a loud suap, to imitate a moose walking through thick cover, he applied the call to his lips, and gave a ehort, low " A Jew minutes' pause, and he broke two or three branches in sharp succession, uttering another " cpioh " louder than the first. Then drawing a long breath, he commenced the plaintive cry, gradually increasing in in tensity and force, which the lonely cow-mouse is supposed to utter to attract the attention of her consort. Away went the call," reverberating through the stems of the forest trees, and let% us restraining our breath and listening for the slightest sound in return. Nothing came, however, till a gust of wind, gathering in the distant hills, came rushing on through the forest, making the tall pines bend as it passed over us. Suddenly Paul and I look at each other. We had both heard it. I hear it again, and this time quite plain. " Quoh, quob, quofh." It is an answer. Paul at once drops his call into the laurels, and rapidly descends the tree. "How far is he off, Paul? How far is he off?" whispered I, fumbling in my excitement for a fresh cap. " Quite handy, not more than quarter•mile away. Come here, and no move till I tell you," said the Indian, dragging me quickly back to a clump of young spruces behind, in which we crouched for shelter from the quick sight of the wary brute. We heard the twigs snap, and the rustling of his feet in the laurels. He seemed to be making a detour. Suddenly he uttered a roar, the counterpart of the sound uttered by the moose I had wounded, and crashing through the thicket, left us no hope of obtaining a shot at him. liad job, Jim," said I. " Oh, sarten. I 'most afraid when I hear urn first, he would fix us. He come across our tracks, and started when he smell um—very angry, very much disgust." Besides moose-hunting, Lieutenant Hardy enjoyed on his different tours some of the finest salmon-fishing that could be desired. • The numerous rivers and lakes swarm with noble fish, which will take anything from the finest silk-ily to a bit of red jersey, and afford good sport. In these two volumes there is no pretension to fine descriptive writing; it is merely a plain, spirited record of sporting.ad ventures, very entertaining and well worthy the attention of all sportsmen who desire some fresher field than Europe can afford them. In the woods and livers of Nova Scotia they will find abundance of game, from the moose to the beaver, and from the smelt to the salmon of fifty pounds weight.. In seeking such sport men become the unconscious pioneers of civilisation ; while they enjoy their own amusement they attract attention to the country, and lay the foundation of settle ment, clearance, and cultivation. We have only one tank to find with Mr. Hardy, and that is, the want of a map. No sportsman, traveller, or explorer should publish his ad ventures without a map ; for there is nothing like a plan, no matter upon how rough a scale, to give form and shape to ideas, and to extend knowledge of the locality. Lizzie Leigh, and other Tales. By the Authoress of "Mary Barton." "Select Library of Fiction." London : Chapman and Hall. THE thirteenth volume of this admirably-selected series includes several entertaining stories, by the authoress of " Mary Barton," reprinted mostly from Household Words. It forms altogether one of the best and most amusing volumes of this series. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. Sporting Adventures in the New World. Lieut. Campbell Hardy. Hurst and Blacken. The Shadow and the Substance. By a Clergyman of the Church of England. Simpkin and Marshall. Charles Worthington. Harry Singleside. Piper and Co. Cross Purposes ; or, the Way of the World. A Novel, Ward and Lock. Notes on Modern Painting at Naples. Lord Napier. J. W. Parker and Son Dialogues on Universal Restitution. W. Freeman. The Hidden Path. Sampson Low. Williamite and Jacobite Wars in Ireland. Lublin : W. M. Hennessy Normans' Bridge. The Parlour Library. Hodgson. PAMPHLETS. How about Cronstadt ? By an Amateur. Pretensions of Russia in the East. Iloulston and Co. PERIODICALS. The Irish Quarterly Review. Simpkin and Marshall. Blackwood's Magazine. Blackwood. Dublin Merasinc. Orr and Ca