The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-12-02
DEER HUNTING In MICHIGAN.
Life Amosg fhe Pines.

correspondent d tie cleveland Herail
sends to that journal an a6eoirt CT re
cent hunting experience:
J We are in camp forty miles from tn
, nearest postoffice, ON the Au Slble river
We are forty miles from the village of Al
} Sable, on Lake Huron, and about one hun
dred and ten miles ftom the mouth of tn,
Au Sable, BY the way of the river. 0ul
/ party consists of John Erwin, N. NJ
Spangler. DR.. William Meyer, George Il
Hyman, Heman 0yht. A. III. Burke. F.W
Buntz and Jason Garfield, with their pacl
of hounds, among which are the famous
dogs SIR 10. Drum, Sport and Root. heroe:
of many chase.
At the village of Au Sable We met the
hardy lumbermen in large numbers, mos.
of them getting feadyfor the woods, where
they soon go into camp to remain till
spring. From the mouth Of the Au Sable
river immense RATS of pine logs were
winding their way out, being towed by
large tugs, on theirSSsy down the lakes to
Tonawanda and other points to be manu-
factured into lumber.
OCroBEs, 16-The village Of An Sable.
ct the mouth of the Au Sable rIver, has
about nine hundred people. Il has two
large sswmills and several fine stores and
the usual Other buildings. It stands few
feet above the lake ON a sandy plain.
which is covered with small Norway pines,
the houses being built among
them, 80 yoI see but few houses
from any one point. The beds of ali
the streets are made of saw dust.
They have no Sunday here in the woods.
The lnmbermen go into the woods in Oc-
tober and remain until spring. during
I r-f 7l Lie I'D
but that which is connected with the cut
| ting of pine trees into logs and hauling
them to the bank of the river, and their
evenings and nights around their camp
fires. No newspapers or foreign news
they are isolated from the outside world.
Their camps are made of pine logs. from
forty to ffty feet square, about eight feet
or Eastwood logs. The logs sre first
their hearts taken out, the first
other with hearts down SO as to break
joints, and the roof is complete. In the
centre they leave a hole about six feet
square for the chimney, underneath this
hole is log pen built up about twenty
the fire is built. The camp is then chinck-
ed with moss and q door put in. This is
the lumberman's home. The window is
the chimney, and here he spends his long
winter evenings and nights from the time
he goes in in October till he goes down
the river with his logs in the spring.
The Au Sable river for its size is the
finest river in the world. Its average
=. l.. A. i g
Eve feet for Two hundred miles, and so
rapid the entire distance that it is impos.
siole to paddle up stream the 6ghtest
canoe. You can get some idea of rapidity
of this stream in the fact that from our
camp one of the lumbermen will paddle
canoe to the mouth of the Au Sable in
about ten hours. II seldom varies in
depth, as it is made entirely of spring wa
ter, the soil being light sand, and absorb
ing all that falls, and the water is cold and
as clear as crystal 1t is well filed with
a species of fish which some call trout,
but unlike any other known trout. In
form the fish resembles the brook trout,
but is a dark spotted fish, with larger
scales than the trout, but equally as good.
The banks, for great part Of the way, are
fringed with cedar swamps, so thick and
dark as to be almost impossible, and are
fine covers for wild game, while back of
them, and now and then coming to the
river, are the high lands of the An Sable
SO well known to the sailors of Lake Huron.
The river runs very deep beneath the
hills, and so shaded by the cedar swamps
that it looks black, and consequently its
name Au Sable-black water.
OCroBEB live breakfasted at five A.
N. At daylight Spangler and Burke start
the hunt, three miles back of camp, with
the seven hounds. Most of the hunters
60 on the river.
First two hounds sre started, and when
they have got up their deer, some distance
away the next is started, and SO on till
they are all out and running like fun, and
different dogs in full chase of five different
deer-some dogs running alone, others by
twos, over the pine ridges and across the
pains, making the woods echo to the
tongues of these excited hounds. When,
ever and anon, on the ridges and plain, you
see the graceful bounding doe, or the more |
majestic jump of the royal buck, before |
the hounds-keeping but short distance |
before the hound, seeming conscious of |
their ability to outrun the hound, until |
heated and tired of the race, they plunge |
into and swim down the Sable river-then |
it is that the batteries of the hunter open
upon them, and the result of one days |
hunt is two deers hung up before our
camp. On his way to camp, from the riv-
er, our doctor tried to drive in four bears, |
but they persisted in taking the wrong |
road, and the doctor failed to get them in. |
October 21.-Four grand hunting days |
and the chase is over, and sadly it has ter
minated As the result of the four days
chase, we have thirteen deer hanging up, |
seven of which are splendid bucks. Cur
brave 'Sport" during the day had brought
into tne river two deer, and one of them,
buck, he had chased for long
distance by swimming down the river after
him, giving tongue hotly and keeping with
in few feet of him till he was finally killed.
OF all the brave deeds of our dogs this
day, ''Sportr seemed praised by all,
and we had but just arrived in our
camp, and were detailing the brave
deeds of Sport" who was before us
when he was seized BY spasms and died in
q few moments by poison. How or by
whom he was poisoned is q mere conjec-
ture. He died with brave deeds about
him, in the zenith of his glory, and this
grandest of hunting days, having slain five
large deer, ends in mourning.
This morning we dug his grave on the
bank of the Sable, and with guns reversed,
leading the other hound. slowly and sol
emnly we followed him to his grave, and
when our cook had buried him, we put
deer's leg to his head as q monument, and
fred ovor his grave twenty-five shots.
There may he rest, and, if possible, dream
of his many heroic chases.
A PIECE of Russian history has been un-
covered lately in the shape of four cofins,
each of them containing, as their we'll
preserved bronze plates betoken, The dust
of some man of importance in his sphere.
These cofius we're brought to light at the
destruction of an old church at Moscow,
situated in the 'Lefort" portion of the
town. The first contained the remnants of