. The hunter and the trapper in North America ; or, Romantic adventures in field and forest. From the French of Bénédict Révoil . accommodation. At the foot of an old oak, in a hollow of the rock, thewind had accumulated a great quantity of leaves ; nothing,I thought, could be easier than to lay down my wrapperand pile upon it all this debris. I returned to the fire,where a place had been reserved for me, and, withoutmore ado, got ready my bed. All at once a strange noisearose in the middle of the heaped-up leaves. I examinedmy litter, and started back in afiright before a horriblerattlesnake,
. The hunter and the trapper in North America ; or, Romantic adventures in field and forest. From the French of Bénédict Révoil . accommodation. At the foot of an old oak, in a hollow of the rock, thewind had accumulated a great quantity of leaves ; nothing,I thought, could be easier than to lay down my wrapperand pile upon it all this debris. I returned to the fire,where a place had been reserved for me, and, withoutmore ado, got ready my bed. All at once a strange noisearose in the middle of the heaped-up leaves. I examinedmy litter, and started back in afiright before a horriblerattlesnake, which, with uncoiled body and head erect,darted at me its forked tongue. To snatch from the firea burning brand, and beat the reptile to death, was thework of a moment. I turned over mv litter, to make sure that it containedno similar occupant. Conceive, if you can, my horrorand disgust ! Nearly a dozen young serpents, coiled to-gether, aroused by nxy pokes and thrusts, emerged fromthe pile of leaves, and took flight in every direction. Mycomrades, aroused by my cries, immediately sprung to A BATTLE WITH RATTLESNAKES. 145. TO SNATCH FROM THE FIRE A BURNING BRAND. their feet, and assisted me to pursue them ; but suchwere the agility and diligence of the young rattlesnakes,that all but two escaped. 10 (414) 1 46 A SINGULAR SPECTACLE. ^J^his incident naturally kept us awake for a great part ofthe night. The rattle of the abominable creatures echoed inour ears; and so great was the abhorrence which we allentertained for them, that though, according to all appear-ance, our presence had put them effectually to flight, wefelt just as uneasy as if we were still surrounded by and sleepiness, however, finally prevailed over ourimagination. We fell asleep, and did not wake until theday was far advanced. Before us rose, on the slope of the hill, the phalansteryof the prairie dogs; and as our horses were asleep, as ourfire was extinguished, and as no human movement troubled
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