2-979-689 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Water-Hunting for Deer: a Night Scene on the River Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, 1857. 'Another instance of the revolver principle applied to the rifle is in what is called "water hunting" in that part of North America in which Mr. Catlin [the celebrated American explorer and sportsman] describes himself as having been "raised." In the warm nights of summer the deer come down to the rivers to bathe and feed on the aquatic plants. The difficulty with the ordinary rifle was that only one shot could be got, as, from their rapidity and shyness, they are out of sight in a moment. Mr. Catlin, on one occasion, returning to the scenes of his boyhood on the shores of the Susquehana, organised a party on a fair night, and seven deer were brought down by the revolver rifle, other deer having gone off bleeding'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.