The Boy Hunters Page 2

  CHAPTER TWO.

  THE HUNTER-NATURALIST AND HIS FAMILY.

  In 1815 was fought the famous battle of Waterloo, and in the same yearNapoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island-rock of Saint Helena. ManyFrench 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 theirhomes for life. Among them was one named Landi, who had been a colonelof chasseurs in Napoleon's army. He was by birth a Corsican; and it wasthrough his being a friend and early acquaintance of one of theBonaparte family that he had been induced to become an officer in theFrench army--for in his youth he had been fonder of science thansoldiering.

  While campaigning in Spain, Landi had married a Basque lady, by whom hehad three children, all sons. Their mother died before the battle ofWaterloo was fought; so that when Landi emigrated to America his familyconsisted of his three sons alone.

  He first went to Saint Louis, but after a while moved down the river toPoint Coupee, in Louisiana, where he purchased the house we have justdescribed, 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 patrimonialestates in Corsica for a sum of money--enough to have enabled him tolive without labour in any country, but particularly in that free landof cheap food and light taxation--the land of his adoption. He was,therefore, under no necessity of following any trade or profession inhis new home--and he followed none. How then did he employ his time? Iwill tell you. He was an educated man. Previous to his entering theFrench army he had studied the natural sciences. He was a _naturalist_.A naturalist can find employment anywhere--can gather both instructionand amusement where others would die of _ennui_ and idleness. Remember!there are "sermons in stones, and books in running brooks." He was nota closet naturalist either. Like the great Audubon he was fond of theoutside world. He was fond of drawing his lessons from Nature herself.He combined a passion for the chase with his more delicate taste forscientific pursuits; and where could he have better placed himself toindulge 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, andpreserving the skins of rare quadrupeds, and planting and pruning histrees, and teaching his boys, and training his dogs and horses, Landiwas far from being idle. His boys, of course, assisted him in theseoccupations, 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 fivefeet four inches in height. He was dapper and tidy--had a largeaquiline nose, and, notwithstanding his limited stature, a pair oftremendous moustachios, that curved over his mouth so as almost to hideit. These gave him a somewhat fierce aspect, which, combined with hisupright carriage, and brisk mechanical-like movements, told you at oncewhat Hugot had been--a French soldier. He was, in fact, a _ci-devant_corporal of chasseurs. Landi had been his colonel. The rest you willeasily guess. He had followed his old leader to America, and was nowhis man for everything. It was not often that you could see thenaturalist without also seeing Hugot's great moustachios close by hiselbow. It would have killed Hugot to have been separated for any lengthof time from his old colonel.

  Of course Hugot accompanied his master in all his hunting expeditions.So, too, did the boys, as soon as they were able to sit upon a horse.On these occasions the house would be shut up, for there was nohousekeeper nor any other domestic about the establishment. It wouldremain thus for days, sometimes for weeks together--for the naturalistwith his party often made distant excursions into the surroundingforests. They would return laden with spoils--skins of birds andbeasts, plants, and rare geological specimens. Then whole days would bespent in the arrangement of these new acquisitions. Thus did Landi andhis family pass their time.

  Hugot was cook, valet, groom, butler, and errand boy. I have alreadystated that no other domestic, male or female, lived in the house:Hugot, therefore, was chambermaid as well. His manifold occupations,however, were not so difficult to fulfil as might at first appear. TheColonel was a man of simple habits. He had learned these when asoldier, and he brought up his sons to live like himself. He ate plainfood, drank only water, and slept upon a camp-bed with a buffalo-robeand a blanket. A laundress in Point Coupee kept the linen clean; andHugot was not near so busy with house affairs as you might suppose. Hemade daily journeys to the village--to the market, and the post-office,from which he often brought letters, many of them with large seals, andthe arms of a prince upon them! Sometimes, too, after a steamer hadcalled at the landing, parcels arrived containing books--scientificbooks they were--or curious instruments. Notwithstanding all this,there was nothing mysterious about the life of the hunter-naturalist.He was no misanthrope. He often visited the village, and would gossipwith old hunters and others who lived there. The villagers knew him asthe "old Colonel," and respected him. They only wondered at his tastesas a naturalist, which to them seemed strange. They wondered, too, howhe managed to keep house without a maid-servant. But the Colonel didnot trouble his head about their conjectures. He only laughed at theircurious inquiries, and remained on as good terms as ever. His boys,too, as they grew up became great favourites with all. They were thebest shots of their age, could ride a horse with any, could swim theMississippi, paddle a canoe, fling a lasso, or spear a catfish, asthough they had been full-grown men. They were, in fact, boy-men; andas such were regarded by the simple villagers, who instinctively feltthe superiority which education and training had given to these youthsover their own uneducated minds. The boys, notwithstanding theseadvantages, were affable with the villagers; hence the respect in whichthey were universally held.

  None of his neighbours ever visited the Colonel, except on matters ofbusiness. Indeed he had no visitors of any sort, if we except one ortwo of his former military associates, who lived at New Orleans, andcame up to his house about once a-year to talk over old times, and tastehis venison. On such occasions "Napoleon le Grand" was of course themain subject of conversation. Like all old soldiers of the Empire,Landi worshipped Napoleon; but there was one of the Bonaparte family forwhom the naturalist entertained a still higher feeling of regard,amounting in fact to sincere friendship. This was Charles Lucien,prince of Musignano.

  Not all the Bonapartes have been bad. Some of the members of thatremarkable family have given evidence to the world that they were thepossessors of noble virtue. The quiet researches of the Prince ofMusignano as a student of natural history, may be looked upon as so manyconquests in the kingdom of Nature; and though they have been eclipsedby the more brilliant and sanguinary triumphs of the Emperor, yet dothey far more entitle him to the gratitude and respect of men. He wasthe true hero of the hunter-naturalist Landi.

  For many years did Colonel Landi lead the life we have described. Anevent at length happened that was near proving fatal to him. He hadbeen wounded in the leg during his campaigns in the Peninsula. A fallfrom his horse reopened this wound, and amputation became necessary.This saved his life, but he could no longer partake of the amusements ofthe chase, although still able to indulge in the more delicate pursuitsof the naturalist. With his wooden leg he was able to hobble about thehouse and lawn, prune the trees, and attend to his pets that had grownto be quite numerous, while Hugot at all times followed him about likehis shadow. The boys, however, went abroad on hunting expeditions, andcollected specimens as formerly; and the life of all went on pretty muchas usual.

  Thus it was when I first became acquainted with the naturalist, his manHugot, and his three sons--the _Boy Hunters_, the heroes of our littlebook.

  Young reader, permit me to introduce you to a more intimate acquaintancewith them. I fancy you will like them--all three--and be h
appy for sometime in their society.