The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-05-03
Ono Hunt.man in the south
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds
His path was rugged and sore,


Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds
His path was rugged and sore,
Through tangled juniper beds Of reeds
Through many q fen where the serpent breeds,
And man never trud before
That Alexander Hunter belongs to that
class of sportsmen who combine with
their ruling passion the true spirit of poe
try, an immense love of the glories Of
nature, and touch of unctuous humor is
evidenced in his latest work, 'The Hunts
man in the South. and especially so in
the chapter devoted to the Great Dismal
Swamp and Lake Drummond, while those
powers Of description and vivid narration
which have made his contributions TO
sporting periodicals so interesting, shows
no falling off in his current book
This is the first volume of a series. and
embraces adventures with the rod and
gun IN Virginia and North Carolina. He
opens with a romantic introduction ap-
pertaining TO sporting in we olden
TYNE" in which he says: 7 think the
greatest gift Nature can bestow upon a
child is to endow him with a love Of the
forest, the field, the stream, and to infect
tA+" hiNfA WIN q ANil6ltiE ADl liTlu CAtUi AEt
and then leads the reader through the
category Of Southern field pastimes-coon
hunting, fox hunting quail shooting
drum fishing. and that most exhilarating
of all sports, ducking, and in fact, the
quest of every species Of game found in
the Chesapeake Bay. and the contiguous
portions of swamp. field, and coast are
touched upon with narrative skill poetic
feeling, and great technical eXaetuess;
the whole being permeated with an in
sinuating vein of humor cropping out
acutely at convenient periods, and nota-
bly, where he makes Zeb explain the real
hypochOndrial effects Of them hell-fired
ager-fevers," the afflicted one stating that
he had alternately shaken his boots
of before breakfast with chills, and then
sweated of ten pounds of flesh with the
fever. Besides this. he had been nearly
run wild with proud flesh. laid up with
rheumatism. was a victim of neuralgia,
had been paTalyZed in his left leg, in
valided with dyspepsia, afflicted with
the measles, Tusted with the rash, twist
ed into a knot with indigestion, laid out
fiat with miasmatic bone fever. and his
blood all curdled with the poisonous
mephitic air He was a blighted being,
the victim of more diseases than Galen
ever dreamed OF. His liver was upside
down, his palate was entirely gone, his
epiglottis burst. his diaphragm corrupted,
and his spleen as large as a bucket"
There are many technical dissertations
on guns, dogs and other sportsmanlike
accessories, and Uncle Billy Wagner
figures prominently with other noted To-
cal disciples OF Nimrod. This book, and
by analogy, the series, should be of acute
interest, net only TO active sportsmen,
but 10 any reader who enjoys the ro-
mantle, the picturesque, or the perusal of
exciting anecdotes. To the first. Mr..
Hunters reputation as a successful
handler Of rod and gun and as leading
spirit in some of the most noted sporting
organizations of the country. viii give il
authority. while his power of graphic de-
sCriptiOn OF scenes participated in will in
teTest the latter The NeaIe Publishing
Company, New Work and Washington.