Year: 1865




About fifty years ago. moved into
the western part of New York, which
was then nearly a wilderness. no set
dement's having been made excepting in
few places on the borders of the lake.
l arrived in the spring of the year, and
commenced clearing the farm NOW oc-
cupy. By the fall, T had built good log
house and temporary stables for my cat
tle-had put into the ground ten acres
of wheat, and looked forward to the en-
suing year for the reward of my labors.
My wife and child (for / was married }
were all my family-neighbors thore
were none nearer than five or six miles.
so that visiting or amusements were out
of the question. You may therefore
suppose that on the approach of long
northern winter l had ample time to
crafty my love of hunting, for which
have always had great fondness.-
Winter had SET in early, and all my
cares were confined to keeping a sufi.
cient stock of wood on hand for fuel
which you may imagine was not difficult
when the trees stood at my door-and
taking care of the few cattle l was then
owner Of Itwas one day, / think in
the fore part Of December, when having
finished my mornings work, | took down
my gun, the same that now stands in the
bar, and told my wife that / would, on
my return, please her with the sight of a
fat deer. Deer are, even now, very
plenty in this part of the country, bpt
then they were much more SO, so that
there was little merit or difficulty in
achieving what | bad promised.


! took, my departure about q north
west course from my cabin, which led
direct into the forest. The snow was
about foot deep, and the wind blowing
hard from the north, 1t drifted much in
the openings; yet this / thought was in
my favor, as the noise made by the wind
among the trees prevented the game
from hearing my approach in ''still hun
ting" But | was mistaken in my cal
cuations, for had travelled five or six
miles from home, and had not got shot
at a single deer though l had seen num-
bers of them, but they were always on
the run and at too great distance, and
all the tracks l saw showed that they had
scarcely walked during that day. l was
then young hunter, bat l have since
learnt that this animal is always on the
move, and. generally runs throughout
windy days, probably from the appre,
hension of danger from wolves, which
follow its scent through the snow.


At length l arrived at large cedar
swamp, on the edge of which / was
struck by the appearance of large stub,
twenty-five feet high, with its bark off.
From its scratched surface, l had no
doubt it was climed by racOons or mar
tens, which probably had den in it, as,
from its appearance, i judged it was hol-
low, The stub, at its base, might have
been seven or eight feet through, but
eight or ten feet higher up its size was
much dimished, so that l could grasp suf-
fcieniiy TO assend it, and ascertain what
was within. My gun and great coat
were deposited in secure place, and,
being an experi climber, | soon gained
the top. As l anticipated, found the
stub was hollow, the aperture being
about two and half feet in diameter
The day. you viii observe, was dark and
cloudy, and, looking down the hollow,
/ fancied could see the bottom at no
great distance; but having nothing to
put In to ascertain its depth, / cOnclu-
ded | would try to touch the bottom with
my feet. Therefore placed myself in
the hole, lowered myself gradually, ex-
pectIng every moment my feet would
come in contact with some animal at the
foot of the hollow; but feeling nothing
| unthinkingly con tinued letting myself
down, until my head and hands and my
whole person were completely within the
centre of the stub.


AT this moment, a sudden and strange
fear came over me, knew not for what
cause, for 1 AN not naturally timid, 1t
seemed to affect me with a sense of suf-
location, such as is experienced in
dreams under The nightmare. Render
ed desperate by my feelings, made a
violent attempt to extricate myself, when
the edges of The wood to which was
holding on, treacherously gave way, and
precIpitated me to the bottom of the
hole. which / found extended to the lev
el with the ground cannot wholly ac-
count for it, but probably from the erect
position in whiSh my body was ,necessa-
rily kept in so narrow tube, and my
I