The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-12-31

sent shot after them, but more from
habit than calculation, and had the pleas
ure OF seeing one Of them fall to the
ground, where it spun round and round on
Its head till my black boy retrieved it, We
put up two other focks after that, out of
which l got one each, and spent the rest of
the forenoon III rambling about aimlessly,
upon guinea fowl intent, but without sue
cess. "Dey is so roam,' said my guide,
meaning that they were mighty uncertain
about their habitat and wandered all over
creation.
The three we had tsayed,' however.
iaTc iny boy ali he wanted to carry, as
they dressed nearly four pounds apiece,
and he grOaned loudly over their weight as
he bravely toted them back to the house
In the broiling sun Of a tropic midday.
They were serTed hat night at dinner,
and it behooycs me to remark that never
ate tenderer CT more delicious flesh, either
OF biped or quatiruped. But, then. OF
course, they were Of n,y own shooting,
which iIstOws an added zeat. They were
served with the sauce Of hunger, and after
provocative sacrry nd bitters, all of
which must be taken Into consideration.
10 lie strictly first class and traGitionally
tender, q guinea must TO- first, of the
feminine gender and young-in fact, q
pu1let. 1t must be cooked tho s;no day it
Is shot and watched over by a sooty cook
of the same sex as the bird
On Saturday AFTERNOON the parson said
to me: My sermon is written ard need
rest. Come with me to Two Foot bay,
and we will have Il try for t!cor'' We rode
@ sr a disused road to Highland House,
and thence to Il COW pen, where q huge
tamarind tree cast a broad shade and was
alive with glittering humming birds
My friend led the way through thick
scrub to a noted deer walk, and there we
took our stand just as the shadows were
lengthening along the fields. Soon a fine
black buck came stepping daintily out of
the copso and offered Il shot that not even
bungler could hayc missed He was &.
splendid animal, and 1ny gun was loaded
for just such IS be, and tho short way to
tell the story is to say that lie went homo
with us behind our negro attendant, shar-
ing with hin the horse L3 rode. One was
enough, and to the pursol I was indebted
for him; so, Of course, I willingly agreed
with him that it would be waEtOn waste
to shoot another. The sun was only about
to set as we took the homeward trail
through the bush, which was animated
with varieties of birds AS We were cross
ing an old field, with a single tree in it's
center, out of that lone tree flew q bunch
of guinea birds, going like the wind and
screcc!ing like mad things. It was then
| after dusk, the moon was risen, and all
| the guinea fowl bad gone to rOost. While
! was telling the parson, as we halted a
| moment under the tree, how easy it would
| have been to bowl Ger two or three of
| those birds had l but known they were
| there, out burst another bevy from the
| limbs right over our heads. The parsOn
| then asked me why l didn't bowl over a
few and said there were probably some
| more in the same spot as that was the
only tree in the field. Recovering from
my astonishment. l unsiung my gum and
! as did Sc another gust shook the branches
above, and I: smaller bevy bolted through
the air. These did hot get away un-
| scatEcu, and Us we continued hOmeWard
Il pair of them hung at my saddle bow
Guinea fowl, doves and deer were by no
means tie sum total of Barbud;.'s s allure
ments for the hunter, for in the fall and
early winter como along great 1ocks of
ployer, snipe, ducks and teal, all the
| winged migrants hat coast the shores of
the United States in their southwark
search for II winter home AS for those
| great birds that hover on tho debatable
| borders of sport-tho pelicaEs, frigate
| birds, EerCns, flanlingoes and tropic birds,
| they sometimes s.varmed here unmolested
| and not afraid.
| But the bird that gives tho best shooting
| hero is the beautiful white headed pigeon,
| which E;iuEts the eaa grape thickets along
| tho sEoHc. The number that l mi ght have
shot VS. only 'ounded by my ambition,