He walked off into the woods, accompanied by Francois. After going
about an hundred yards or so, he stopped at the foot of a certain tree.
The tree was a birch--easily distinguished by its smooth, silvery bark.
By means of his sharp hunting-knife he "girdled" this tree near the
ground, and then higher up, so that the length between the two
"girdlings," or circular cuttings, was about four feet. He then made a
longitudinal incision by drawing the point of his knife from one circle
to the other. This done he inserted the blade under the bark, and
peeled it off, as he would have taken the skin from a buffalo. The tree
was a foot in diameter, consequently the bark, when stripped off and
spread flat, was about three feet in width; for you must remember that
the circumference of a circle or a cylinder is always about three times
the length of its diameter, and therefore a tree is three times as much
"_round_" as it is "_through_."
They now returned to the camp-fire, taking along with them the piece of
bark that had been cut off. This was spread out, though not quite flat,
still leaving it somewhat curved. The convex side, that which had lain
towards the tree, was now blackened with pulverised charcoal, which
Norman had directed Basil to prepare for the purpose; and to the bark at
one end was fastened a stake or shaft. Nothing more remained but to fix
this stake in the canoe, in an upright position near the bow, and in
such a way that the bottom of the piece of bark would be upon a level
with the seats, with its hollow side looking forward. It would thus
form a screen, and prevent those in the canoe from being seen by any
creature that might be ahead.
When all this had been arranged, Norman shouldered the axe, and again
walked off into the woods. This time his object was to obtain a
quantity of "knots" of the pitch-pine (_Pinus rigida_), which he knew
would most likely be found in such a situation. The tree was soon
discovered, and pointed out to Francois, who accompanied him as before.
Francois saw that it was a tree of about fifty feet in height, and a
foot in diameter at its base. Its bark was thick, very dark in the
colour, and full of cracks or fissures. Its leaves, or "needles," were
about three inches long, and grew in threes, each three forming a little
bunch, bound together at its base by a brownish sheath. These bunches,
in botanical language, are termed "fasciles." The cones were somewhat
shorter than the leaves, nearly of the shape of eggs, and clustered
together in threes and fours. Francois noticed that the tree was
thickly branched, and therefore there are many knots in the wood. For
this reason it is not of much use as timber; but on account of the resin
which it contains, it is the best species for firewood; and for that
purpose it is used in all parts of the United States, where it grows.
Most of the _pine-wood_ sold for fuel in the large cities of America is
the wood of this species.
Francois supposed that his companion was about to fell one of the trees.
He was mistaken, however; Norman had no such intention; he had only
stopped before one to examine it, and make sure that it was the species
he was in search of. He was soon satisfied of this, and moved on,
directing his eyes along the ground. Again he stopped; but this time it
was by a tree that had already fallen--blown down, perhaps, by the wind.
It was half decayed; but Francois could see that it was one of the same
species--the pitch-pine.
This was the very thing Norman wanted, and plying his axe, he soon
knocked out a large quantity of the resinous knots. These he at length
collected, and putting them into a bag, returned with Francois to the
fire. He then announced that he had no further preparations to make.
All four now sat down to supper, which consisted of dry meat, with
biscuits and coffee; and, as their appetites were sharpened by their
water journey, they made a hearty meal of it.
As soon as they had finished eating, the canoe was launched and got
ready. The screen of birch-bark was set up, by lashing its shaft to the
bottom timbers, and also to one of the seats. Immediately in front of
this, and out upon the bow, was placed the frying-pan; and this having
been secured by being tied at the handle, was filled with dry
pine-knots, ready to be kindled at a moment's notice. These
arrangements being made, the hunters only awaited the darkness to set
forth.
In the progress of their hunt they would be carried still farther
down-stream; but as that was the direction in which they were
travelling, they would only be progressing on their journey, and thus
"killing two birds with one stone." This was altogether a very pleasant
consideration; and, having stowed everything snugly in the canoe, they
sat chatting agreeably and waiting for the arrival of night.
Night came at length, and, as Norman had predicted, it was as "dark as
pitch." Stepping gently into the canoe, and seating themselves in their
respective places, they pushed out and commenced floating down-stream.
Norman sat near the bow, in order to attend to his torch of pine-knots.
Francois was next to him, holding his double-barrel, loaded with
buck-shot, which is the same size as that used for swans, and in England
is even known as "swan-shot."
Next came Basil with his rifle. He sat near Francois, just by the
middle of the little vessel. Lucien, who was altogether a man of peace
principles, and but little of a shot compared with either of his
brothers, handled the oar--not to propel the canoe, but merely to guide
it. In this way the party floated on in silence.
Norman soon kindled his torch, which now cast its red glare over the
surface of the river, extending its fiery radii even to the banks on
both sides of the stream. The trees that overhung the water seemed
tinged with vermilion, and the rippling wave sparkled like liquid gold.
The light only extended over a semicircle. From the manner in which the
torch was placed, its light did not fall upon the other half of the
circle, and this, by contrast, appeared even darker than it would
otherwise have done.
The advantage of the plan which Norman had adopted was at once apparent
to all. Ahead of the canoe the whole river was plainly seen for a
distance of several hundred yards. No object larger than a cork could
have floated on its surface, without being visible to those in the
vessel--much less the great white body of a trumpeter swan. Astern of
the canoe, on the other hand, all was pitchy darkness, and any one
looking at the vessel from a position ahead could have seen nothing but
the bright torch and the black uniform surface behind it. As I have
already stated, the concave side of the bark was towards the blaze, and
the pan containing the torch being placed close in to the screen, none
of the light could possibly fall upon the forms of those within the
canoe. They were therefore invisible to any creature from the front,
while they themselves could see everything before them.
Two questions yet remained unanswered. First,--would our hunters find
any swans on the river? Second,--if they should, would these birds
allow themselves to be approached near enough to be shot at? The first
question Norman, of course, could not answer. That was a matter beyond
his knowledge or control. The swans might or might not appear, but it
was to be hoped they would. It was likely enough. Many had been seen
on the preceding day, and why not then? To the second question, the
young Canadian gave a definite reply. He assured his cousins that, if
met with, the birds would be easily approached in this manner; he had
often hunted them so. They would either keep their place, and remain
until the light came very near them, or they would move towards it (as
he had many times known them to do), attracted by curiosity and the
novelty of the spectacle. He had hunted deer in the same manner; he had
shot, he said, hundreds of these animals upon the banks of rivers, where
they had come down to the water to drink, and stood gazing at the light.
His cousins could well credit his statements. They themselves had
hunted deer by torchlight in the woods of Louisiana, where it is termed
"fire-hunting." They had killed several in this way. The creatures, as
if held by some fascination, would stand with head erect looking at the
torch carried by one of the party, while the other took sight between
their glancing eyes and fired the deadly bullet. Remembering this, they
could easily believe that the swans might act in a similar manner.
It was not long until they were convinced of it by actual experience.
As the canoe rounded a bend in the river, three large white objects
appeared in the "reach" before them. A single glance satisfied all that
they were swans, though, in the deceptive glare of the torch, they
appeared even larger than swans. Their long upright necks, however,
convinced the party they could be nothing else, and the canoe was headed
directly for them.
As our hunters approached, one of the birds was heard to utter his
strange trumpet-note, and this he repeated at intervals as they drew
nearer.
"I have heard that they sing before death," muttered Francois to Basil,
who sat nearest him. "If so, I hope that's the song itself;" and
Francois laughed quietly at the joke he had perpetrated.
Basil also laughed; and Lucien, who had overheard the remark, could not
restrain himself from joining in the laughter.
"I fear not," rejoined Basil; "there is hardly enough music in the note
to call it a song. They may live to `blow their own trumpet' a long
while yet."
This remark called forth a fresh chorus of laughter, in which all took
part; but it was a very silent kind of laughter, that could not have
been heard ten yards off: it might have been termed "laughing in a
whisper."
It soon ended, however, as matters now became serious: they were already
within less than two hundred yards of the game, and the greatest caution
had to be observed. The gunners had arranged the order of fire: Basil
was to shoot first, taking steady aim with his rifle at any one of the
birds; while Francois should fire as soon as he heard the report of his
brother's gun, taking the remaining swans upon the wing, with one or
both barrels, as he best might.
At length Basil deemed himself near enough, and, levelling his piece,
fired. The bird threw out its wings, and flattened down upon the water,
almost without a struggle. The other two were rising into the air, when
"crack! crack!" went the two barrels of Francois' piece, and one of the
swans fell back with a broken wing, and fluttered over the surface of
the stream. Basil's had been shot dead, and was taken up easily; but
the wounded bird was only captured after a long chase with the canoe;
and when overtaken, it struck so fiercely with its remaining wing, that
one of the blows inflicted a painful wound on the wrist of Francois.
Both, however, were at length got safely aboard, and proved to be a male
and female of the largest dimensions.