properly termed hunting, mankind were, from the earliest ages, engaged.
It was the rudest and the most obvious manner of acquiring human support
before the agricultural arts had in any degree advanced. It is an
employment, however, requiring both art and contrivance, as well as a
certain fearlessness of character, combined with the power of
considerable physical endurance. Without these, success could not be
very great; but, at best, the occupation is usually accompanied with
rude and turbulent habits; and, when combined with these, it constitutes
what is termed the savage state of man. As culture advances, and as the
soil proportionably becomes devoted to the plough or to the sustenance
of the tamer or more domesticated animals, the range of the huntsman is
proportionably limited; so that when a country has attained to a high
state of cultivation, hunting becomes little else than an amusement of
the opulent. In the case of fur-bearing animals, however, it is somewhat
different; for these continue to supply the wants of civilization with
one of its most valuable materials of commerce.