The Boy Hunters | Page 2

we should see a barometer and thermometer hanging against
the wall, an old clock over the mantel-piece, a sabre and pistols, and a
book-case containing many choice and valuable books.
To the rear of the house we should find a small kitchen built of logs,
and containing the usual culinary utensils. Still farther back we should
meet with an enclosed yard, having a storehouse and stable at one end.
In the stables we should find four horses, and several mules might be
observed in the enclosure. A large reddish dog with long ears, and
having the appearance of a hound, might be seen straying about the
yard, and would not fail to attract our attention.
An observer, viewing this house from a distance, would take it for the
residence of a wealthy planter; on a nearer inspection, however, it
would not pass for that. There were no rows of negro cabins, no great
sugar-mills, nor tobacco-warehouses, such as are always to be seen
near the planter's dwelling. Nothing of the sort; nor was there any very
large tract of cultivated land contiguous to the house. The dark cypress
forest in the background cast its shadow almost up to the walls. Plainly
it was not the dwelling of a planter. What then was it, and who were its
inmates? It was the home of a Hunter-Naturalist.
CHAPTER TWO.

THE HUNTER-NATURALIST AND HIS FAMILY.
In 1815 was fought the famous battle of Waterloo, and in the same year
Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island-rock of Saint Helena.
Many French officers, who had followed the fortunes of the great
adventurer, at that time emigrated to America. Most of these, as was
very natural, sought the French settlements on the Mississippi, and
there made their homes for life. Among them was one named Landi,
who had been a colonel of chasseurs in Napoleon's army. He was by
birth a Corsican; and it was through his being a friend and early
acquaintance of one of the Bonaparte family that he had been induced
to become an officer in the French army--for in his youth he had been
fonder of science than soldiering.
While campaigning in Spain, Landi had married a Basque lady, by
whom he had three children, all sons. Their mother died before the
battle of Waterloo was fought; so that when Landi emigrated to
America his family consisted of his three sons alone.
He first went to Saint Louis, but after a while moved down the river to
Point Coupee, in Louisiana, where he purchased the house we have just
described, and made it his home.
Let me tell you that he was not in any circumstances of necessity.
Previous to his departure for America, he had sold his patrimonial
estates in Corsica for a sum of money--enough to have enabled him to
live without labour in any country, but particularly in that free land of
cheap food and light taxation--the land of his adoption. He was,
therefore, under no necessity of following any trade or profession in his
new home--and he followed none. How then did he employ his time? I
will tell you. He was an educated man. Previous to his entering the
French army he had studied the natural sciences. He was a naturalist. A
naturalist can find employment anywhere--can gather both instruction
and amusement where others would die of ennui and idleness.
Remember! there are "sermons in stones, and books in running
brooks." He was not a closet naturalist either. Like the great Audubon
he was fond of the outside world. He was fond of drawing his lessons
from Nature herself. He combined a passion for the chase with his more

delicate taste for scientific pursuits; and where could he have better
placed himself to indulge in these than in the great region of the
Mississippi valley, teeming with objects of interest both to the hunter
and the naturalist? In my opinion, he made good choice of his home.
Well, between hunting, and fishing, and stuffing his birds, and
preserving the skins of rare quadrupeds, and planting and pruning his
trees, and teaching his boys, and training his dogs and horses, Landi
was far from being idle. His boys, of course, assisted him in these
occupations, as far as they were able. But he had another assistant--
Hugot.
Who was Hugot? I shall describe Hugot for your benefit.
Hugot was a Frenchman--a very small Frenchman, indeed--not over
five feet four inches in height. He was dapper and tidy--had a large
aquiline nose, and, notwithstanding his limited stature, a pair of
tremendous moustachios, that curved over his mouth so as almost to
hide it. These gave him a somewhat fierce aspect, which, combined
with his upright carriage, and brisk mechanical-like movements, told
you at once what Hugot had been--a French soldier.