The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-02-08

As lhc snaueS OF nlght uarkcned IN upon
us, we could hear the cries Of the wood
fowl and the pleasant gabble of the wild
ducks as they noisily fed among the reeds
of the swamp near-sounds which gave us
abundant promise Of sport the next day.
A couple ofpipes and some startling stories
of Indian jungle-hunting from the Major
prepared us for bed, and we slept dream
lessly in front of the fire until sunrise.
Fnneois proved himself true guide,. for
he reused us as the sun rose, and soon had
us out on the lake in couple of bark ca
noes kept hung up to trees. We made
considerable havoc among the ducks by
the time the morning mists had disappear
ed, for the birds were delieiously innocent
Of danger, 50 we finally gave up the work
in sheer pity. The afternoon was occupied
IN fishing, and at supper we decided to
push further on to the northward in hopes
of larger game.
A twenty-mile tramp, for it was useless
attempting to take the carts along, led us
to another lake known as 0sh-a-wa-ha
where We established our headquarters,
Jerome and Antoine being sent back for
more supplies. At the end Of two days
We found ourselves very comfortably fixed,
and enjoyed fishing and duck shooting to
our hearts content, the Major being lucky
enough to bag fat buck while he was
sauntering among the openings
Every night we could hear the monot-
onous coo of the woodpigeons, and as they
promised to be a diversion, it was finally
decided that day should be devoted to
them. Pigeon-shooting in the woods is a
peculiar sport, for the hunter has to trust
entirely to his eye andear. Moving slow
ly and silently through the dense forest,
the pigeons mournful cry is at length
heard. You stop aud listen, and when
the bird again utters his note you carefully
trace him to his tree, usually finding him
sitting on bare branch near the top,
wholly unconscious of danger The woods
rcsound with the discharge of your fowl.
ing-pieee, and down tumblcs the game. A
rest Is then necessary, in order that the
pigeons may recover from their momentary
fright, when off the party start again.
This proceeding makes pigeon-shooting
rather exciting, and in such wild woods as
! have described full bag is generally
the result,
We started after pigeons the next day
directly after breakfast, Of course only
armed with shot-guns Francois, however,
insisted on taking his rife, and he put in
his pocket a handful of old Brown Bess
bullets, proceeding that proved quite
providential before the day was over. The
birds were plentiful, and our bags became
inconveniently heavy by noon; SO halt
was called for lunch, preparatory to our
return to camp. Our rendezvous was at
the base of huge pile of rocks that crop
ped out of the ground in weird confusion
being doubtless an upheayal of the granite
formation that underlies the whole region.
Though We were in the very heart Of the
woods, the trees in the vicinity were stun
ted, showing that the soil was shallow.
Still it was beautiful spot for our pur-
pose, and Francois soon had fire blazing,
Antoine meanwhile cleaning few of the
pigeons for the spit. Our appetites were
naturally sharp set, and the meal proved
., famous one. The cracking pine-knot
tire glowed in a crovice of the rocks, and
we were in the full enjoyment of roast
pigeon, when We were all startled by a
hoarse grow in our rear.
"Des curses The bears The bears r
shouted Francois, as we all leaped instinct
lively to our feet
Bears it was, sure enough, for coming
down upon us were four Of the uncouth
brutes, scmmbling over the rocks in eyi-
IDENTIFY an angry mood. It was our fire
that had done the mischief. Built in a
creyice, as il had been, some of the smoke
must have been driven by an air current
into some sort Of subterranean cavern,
which formed the den of the bears. They
had, no doubt, been smoked out by our
fire, and were consequently fierce in their
blind rage. 1t was decidedly an unpleas-
ant predicamont, four bears opposed to five
men, one of them wholly unarmed, for
Antoine had carried our proyender.
ITO the trees get behind tree?''
cried the two guides, nimbly setting the
example as they spoke. The Major and
the Captain followed suit, while | started
of to the left, aprocecding that nearly cost
me my life. The suddenness of the alarm
and the unexpected sight of the bears in
such close proximity completely unsettled
my nerves, SO that | scarcely knew what
was doing. To the horror of my more ex-
perienced companions, | suddenly paused
in my headlong flight and emptied both
of my barrels right in the face Of huge
brute that had evidently selected my un-
lucky self as its prize. OF course, the hail
Of small shot only added to her rage, for
she was the mother Of the family, though
she was in no way disabled; so there ! was,
face to face to the animal, with an empty
gun in my hand and utterly helpless, for
my companions could render me no i'm
mediate aid having their hands full in
looking after the other bears.
Francois opened the battle firing at the
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