by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER IV
A SWAN-HUNT BY TORCHLIGHT
A few days brought our travellers to the settlement of Red River, wherethey made but a very short stay; and, having procured a few articleswhich they stood in need of, they resumed their journey, and floated ontowards Lake Winnipeg. The swans were seen in greater numbers than ever.They were not less shy however, and Francois, as before, in vain triedto get a shot at one.
He was very desirous of bringing down one of these noble birds, partlybecause the taste he had had of their flesh had given him a liking forit; and partly because their shyness had greatly tantalized him. One isalways more eager to kill shy game, both on account of the rarity of thething, and the credit one gets for his expertness. But the voyageurs hadnow got within less than twenty miles of Lake Winnipeg, and Francois hadnot as yet shot a single swan. It was not at all likely the eagles wouldhelp him to another. So there would be no more roast swan for supper.
Norman, seeing how eager Francois was to shoot one of these birds,resolved to aid him by his advice.
"Cousin Frank," said he, one evening as they floated along, "you wishvery much to get a shot at the swans?"
"I do," replied Francois,--"I do; and if you can tell me how toaccomplish that business, I'll make you a present of this knife." HereFrancois held up a very handsome clasp-knife that he carried in hispouch.
A knife in the fur countries is no insignificant affair. With a knifeyou may sometimes buy a horse, or a tent, or a whole carcass of beef,or, what is stranger still, a wife! To the hunter in these wildregions--perhaps a thousand miles from where knives are sold--such athing is of very great value indeed; but the knife which Francoisoffered to his cousin was a particularly fine one, and the latter hadonce expressed a wish to become the owner of it. He was not slow,therefore, in accepting the conditions.
"Well," rejoined he, "you must consent to travel a few miles by night,and I think I can promise you a shot at the trumpeters--perhapsseveral."
"What say you, brothers?" asked Francois, appealing to Basil and Lucien;"shall we have the sport? Say yes."
"Oh! I have no objection," said Lucien.
"Nor I," added Basil. "On the contrary, I should like it above allthings. I wish very much to know what plan our cousin shall adopt. Inever heard of any mode of approaching these birds."
"Very well, then," answered Norman, "I shall have the pleasure ofinstructing you in a way that is in use in these parts among theIndians, who hunt the swan for its skin and quills, which they trade tous at the post. We can manage it to-night, I think," continued he,looking up at the sky: "there is no moon, and the sky is thick. Yes, itwill be dark enough."
"Is it necessary the night should be a dark one?" asked Francois.
"The darker the better," replied Norman. "To-night, if I am notmistaken, will be as black as pitch. But we need to make somepreparations. It is near sundown, and we shall have just time to getready for the business. Let us get ashore, then, as quickly aspossible."
"Oh! certainly--let us land," replied all three at once.
The canoe was now turned to the shore; and when it had arrived within afew feet of the land it was brought to a stop. Its keel was not allowedto touch the bottom of the river, as that would have injured the littlecraft. The greatest precaution is always observed both in landing andembarking these vessels. The voyageurs first get out and wade to theshore, one or two remaining to hold the canoe in its place. The cargo,whatever it be, is then taken out and landed; and after that the canoeitself is lifted out of the water, and carried ashore, where it is set,bottom upward, to dry.
The birch-bark canoe is so frail a structure, that, were it broughtrudely in contact either with the bottom or the bank, it would be verymuch damaged, or might go to pieces altogether. Hence the care withwhich it is handled. It is dangerous, also, to stand upright in it, asit is so "crank" that it would easily turn over, and spill bothcanoe-men and cargo into the water. The voyageurs, therefore, when oncethey have got in, remain seated during the whole passage, shifting aboutas little as they can help. When landed for the night, the canoe isalways taken out of the water as described. The bark is of a somewhatspongy nature; and if left in the water for a length of time, wouldbecome soaked and heavy, and would not run so well. When kept all night,bottom upward, it drips and becomes dryer and lighter. In the morning,at the commencement of the day's journey, it sits higher upon the waterthan in the afternoon and evening, and is at that time more easilypaddled along.
Our voyageurs, having got on shore, first kindled a fire to cook theirsupper. This they intended to despatch earlier than usual, so as to givethem the early part of the night for their swan hunt, which theyexpected to finish before midnight. Lucien did the cooking, whileNorman, assisted by Basil and Francois, made his preparations for thehunt. Francois, who was more interested in the result than any of them,watched every movement of his cousin. Nothing escaped him.
Norman proceeded as follows:--
He walked off into the woods, accompanied by Francois. After going aboutan hundred yards or so, he stopped at the foot of a certain tree. Thetree was a birch--easily distinguished by its smooth, silvery bark. Bymeans of his sharp hunting-knife he "girdled" this tree near the ground,and then higher up, so that the length between the two "girdlings," orcircular cuttings, was about four feet. He then made a longitudinalincision 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 hewould have taken the skin from a buffalo. The tree was a foot indiameter, consequently the bark, when stripped off and spread flat, wasabout three feet in width; for you must remember that the circumferenceof a circle or a cylinder is always about three times the length of itsdiameter, 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 ofbark that had been cut off. This was spread out, though not quite flat,still leaving it somewhat curved. The convex side, that which had laintowards the tree, was now blackened with pulverized charcoal, whichNorman had directed Basil to prepare for the purpose; and to the bark atone end was fastened a stake or shaft. Nothing more remained but to fixthis stake in the canoe, in an upright position near the bow, and insuch a way that the bottom of the piece of bark would be upon a levelwith the seats, with its hollow side looking forward. It would thus forma screen, and prevent those in the canoe from being seen by any creaturethat might be ahead.
When all this had been arranged, Norman shouldered the axe, and againwalked off into the woods. This time his object was to obtain a quantityof "knots" of the pitch-pine (_Pinus rigida_), which he knew would mostlikely be found in such a situation. The tree was soon discovered, andpointed out to Francois, who accompanied him as before. Francois sawthat it was a tree of about fifty feet in height, and a foot in diameterat its base. Its bark was thick, very dark in the colour, and full ofcracks or fissures. Its leaves, or "needles," were about three incheslong, and grew in threes, each three forming a little bunch, boundtogether at its base by a brownish sheath.
These bunches, in botanical language, are termed "fasciles." The coneswere somewhat shorter than the leaves, nearly the shape of eggs, andclustered together in threes and fours. Francois noticed that the treewas thickly branched, and therefore there are many knots in the wood.For this reason it is not much use as timber; but on account of theresin which it contains, it is the best species for firewood; and forthat purpose it is used in all parts of the United States, where itgrows. Most of the _pine-wood_ sold for fuel in the large cities ofAmerica 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 onlystopped before one to examine it, and make sure that it was the specieshe 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 itwas 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 samespecies--the pitch-pine.
This was the very thing Norman wanted, and plying his axe, he soonknocked out a large quantity of the resinous knots. These he at lengthcollected, and putting them into a bag, returned with Francois to thefire. He then announced that he had no further preparations to make.
All four now sat down to supper, which consisted of dry meat, withbiscuits and coffee; and, as their appetites were sharpened by theirwater journey, they made a hearty meal of it.
As soon as they had finished eating, the canoe was launched and gotready. The screen of birch-bark was set up, by lashing its shaft to thebottom timbers, and also to one of the seats. Immediately in front ofthis, and out upon the bow, was placed the frying-pan; and this havingbeen secured by being tied at the handle, was filled with drypine-knots, ready to be kindled at a moment's notice. These arrangementsbeing made, the hunters only awaited the darkness to set forth.
In the progress of their hunt they would be carried still fartherdown-stream; but as that was the direction in which they weretravelling, they would only be progressing on their journey, and thus"killing two birds with one stone." This was altogether a very pleasantconsideration; and having stowed everything snugly in the canoe, theysat chatting agreeably and waiting for the arrival of night.
Night came at length, and, as Norman had predicted, it was as "dark aspitch." Stepping gently into the canoe, and seating themselves in theirrespective 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 withbuckshot, which is the same size as that used for swans, and in Englandis even known as "swan-shot."
Next came Basil with his rifle. He sat near Francois, just by the middleof the little vessel. Lucien, who was altogether a man of peaceprinciples, and but little of a shot compared with either of hisbrothers, handled the oar--not to propel the canoe, but merely to guideit. In this way the party floated on in silence.
Norman soon kindled his torch, which now cast its red glare over thesurface of the river, extending its fiery radii even to the banks onboth sides of the stream. The trees that overhung the water seemedtinged with vermilion, and the rippling wave sparkled like liquid gold.The light only extended over a semicircle. From the manner in which thetorch was placed, its light did not fall upon the other half of thecircle, and this, by contrast, appeared even darker than it wouldotherwise have done.
The advantage of the plan which Norman had adopted was at once apparentto all. Ahead of the canoe the whole river was plainly seen, for adistance of several hundred yards. No object larger than a cork couldhave floated on its surface, without being visible to those in thevessel--much less the great white body of a trumpeter swan. Astern ofthe canoe, on the other hand, all was pitchy darkness, and any onelooking at the vessel from a position ahead could have seen nothing butthe bright torch and the black uniform surface behind it.
As I have already stated, the convex side of the bark was _towards_ theblaze, and the pan containing the torch being placed close into thescreen, none of the light could possibly fall upon the forms of thosewithin the canoe. They were therefore invisible to any creature from thefront, while they themselves could see everything before them.
Two questions yet remained unanswered. First--would our hunters find anyswans on the river? Second--if they should, would these birds allowthemselves to be approached near enough to be shot at? The firstquestion Norman, of course, could not answer. That was a matter beyondhis knowledge or control. The swans might or might not appear, but itwas to be hoped they would. It was likely enough. Many had been seen onthe preceding day, and why not then? To the second question, the youngCanadian gave a definite reply.
He assured his cousins that, if met with, the birds would be easilyapproached in this manner; he had often hunted them so. They wouldeither 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 hunteddeer in the same manner; he had shot, he said, hundreds of these animalsupon the banks of rivers, where they had come down to the water todrink, and stood gazing at the light.
His cousins could well credit his statements. They themselves had hunteddeer by torchlight in the woods of Louisiana, where it is termed"fire-hunting." They had killed several in this way. The creatures as ifheld by some fascination, would stand with head erect looking at thetorch carried by one of the party, while the other took sight betweentheir glancing eyes and fired the deadly bullet. Remembering this, theycould easily believe that the swans might act in a similar manner.
It was not long until they were convinced of it by actual experience. Asthe canoe rounded a bend in the river, three large white objectsappeared in the "reach" before them. A single glance satisfied all thatthey were swans, though in the deceptive glare of the torch, theyappeared even larger than swans. Their long upright necks, however,convinced the party they could be nothing else, and the canoe was headeddirectly for them.
As our hunters approached, one of the birds was heard to utter hisstrange trumpet note, and this he repeated at intervals as they drewnearer.
"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;" andFrancois laughed quietly at the joke he had perpetrated.
Basil also laughed; and Lucien, who had overheard the remark, could notrefrain himself from joining in the laughter.
"I fear not," rejoined Basil; "there is hardly enough music in the noteto call it a song. They may live to 'blow their own trumpet' a longwhile yet."
This remark called forth a fresh chorus of laughter, in which all tookpart; but it was a very silent kind of laughter, that could not havebeen heard ten yards off: it might have been termed "laughing in awhisper."
It soon ended, however, as matters now became serious: they were alreadywithin less than two hundred yards of the game, and the greatest cautionhad to be observed. The gunners had arranged the order of fire: Basilwas to shoot first, taking steady aim with his rifle at any one of thebirds; while Francois should fire as soon as he heard the report of hisbrother's gun, taking the remaining swans upon the wing, with one orboth 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 theswans fell back with a broken wing, and fluttered over the surface ofthe stream. Basil's had been shot dead, and was taken up easily; but thewounded bird was only captured after a long chase with the canoe; andwhen overtaken, it struck so fiercely with its remaining wing, that oneof 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 andfemale of the largest dimensions.
