The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-12-17

only on n ulnf, perhaps uurk, uuchsrouhu,
making him one Of the hardest OF
all objects to catch with the eyes. All
that you actually discern in the great ma
jority Of cases is a faint blur in q thcket or q
small spot OF brown or gray or red or white
far away on ridge or hillside. or dark gray
or brownish patch among tree trunks or
logs OF the same color. Sometimes you only
detect pair OF slender legs. looking like dead
sticks beneath huge fallen tree. Sometimes
IL is pair OF delicate ear tips. just visible above
weeds brush. or long grass: or 1t may DO
gistening point or two where the sun strikcs
upon . polished horn. or perhaps shining dot
far away where tho light just touches bit OF
glossy hair. 1t requires. in brief an extraor-
binary combination Of natural keenncss and
patient culture OF vision to detect deer until
just second too late for shot.
II Is, OF course. indispensable for tho hunter
to see deer a second or two before tho animal
is conscious of his proximity. but the difficulty
of accomplishing this can only be appreciated
by those who have some practical experience
Of the acutencss of deer's senses. The books,
we are assured. convey no adequate conception
OF their kConness. In his discourse upon this
topic the author expresses tho opinion that of
all tho doer's senses. that Of smoll should be
most warily avoided by the hunter. not that
he can smell any further than he can see or
hear. but because the smell Of u man
alarms him more thoroughly than any sound
or sight. deer will often stop an instant to
give location to q noise. or to scrutinize any
unusual object. but he instinctively recognizes
tho scent Of man. and forthwith vanishos
without waiting for a second sniff OF the faint
cd air. Mr. Van Dyke rccounts an incident
where two half-grown lawns. who could neither
500 nor hear him. and Of whom he can aver
positively that they had never met a man.
bounded away in n paroxysm OF terror when
his scent was borne to them by the wind.
Where the deer is much hunted his cars be-
come exceedingly acute. Mr.. Van Dyke has
seen ono spring from his bed and run away at
racehorse speed before he was within two
hundred yards Of the animal, although he had
touched not single bush or twig in approach
ing the game, and although he was positive
that u man could not at twenty yards distance
have heard the soft tread Of moccasins on the
light snow. Deer. too are able to measure with
intuuve correctness the distance and character
Of sounds. They will often lie all day within
hearing Of tho normal noises OF a settlers cabin.
thesound of the woodlands axe and the shouts
of the teamster. As a rule. too. the crash OF n
squirrels jump, the roar Of thunder. the snap
ping of trees with frost. their creaking or fall
ing in the wind does not alarm them in the
beneath the hunters moccasn may instantly
send them flying. A deer can also see a long
way. On one occasion Mr.. Van Dyke saw one
watching a brother sportsman nearly a mile
away whose motions he could hardly himself
make out 1t is true that for recog-
nizing an object at rest the eyes Of deer are
he will not distinguish II man from stump on
open ground if the man Is seated and perfect
" motionless. On the other hand. to catch n
u X.
and the fact that he is generally at rest while
S Even the slow ns q ~
over the trunks OF trees or the slow advance of
your creeping body along the ground is almost
instantly detected. unless the motion happens
to be made while the deer have their heads
down, feeding or walking.
Such are the defensive weapons bestowed by
nature on the animal whose chase, from time
has been the 10y IF k lin HSw
tihces the hunter may elude senses keener
than his own: il is the object OF this interesting
and instructive record OF veteran sports
mans experience to disclose.
Posthumous Papers Of ~ spanish Historian.
We noticed at some length In these columns,
as successive nstallments Of the work were
published. the Historic de la Esciavitud.'
projected by the distinguished scholar and
writer. JOSE ANTONIO SACo. 1t Is much to be
regretted that work Of such extensive scope
and for which Senior Saco had made such elab-
crate preparations. should have been left UNI
finished. The author died. unfortunately. just
as he was approaching the most interesting
portion Of his task. viz. the portrayal of the
forms which slavery assumed among the Span
ish, Portuguese, French. and English colonies in
America The papers now collected. under the
title of COlecciOn I1sttiiHd alabama. Miguel De
Villa) do not relate. with the exception of one
ar tWp latta 10 fha of al h,,t
comprise number OF essays memorials and
newspaper articles bearing on the political his
tory and the social and economical condition
Of the island of Cuba
Among the most striking Of these papers
are two articles communicated to q Madrid
journal in 1864. and In which the Cuban Chi
nosc question is discussed with the fulness
and precision chara .teristic of tho author
Chinese laborcrs had been introduced into
Cuba in 1917. six hundred coolies having been
imported Mt that time. and nv 1861 the number
of Chinese labnrers returned by the census was
about $4,000 Sehor Saco compares the at
tempt to supplement- negro by coolic labor with
the analogous step taken in the years succeed
ing the Spanish conquest to fill up the gaps in
the native population. which was literally
worked TO death by importations of slaves
from Africa. Senior Saco points out that
the coolies in Cuba are not legally slaves.
but are apprcnticcd to labor for term Of
years just as the lower grade OF colonsts sent
out to the French Antilles and Louisiana in the
seventeenth century were indentured to the
richer planters. Even in the latter case the SER
wants thus bound over were practically treated
UAe slaves, and the condition OF coolies in
Cuba at the time when Senior Saco wrote
was much worse. for n number OF reasons
enumerated By the author among which may