In 1887 a Boston physician came to Texas for some bird hunting for ornithological purposes. He found the perfect guide in John M. Priour, a true hair-on-hide Texan, full of good natured abuse. Priour led his Yankee friend on a 400 mile trek through bramble, bog, forest, mud and more mud. When he returned to Boston, Dr. Peirce wrote a book about his misadventures in Texas. Exceedingly well written, poignant and humorous, this is the book Mark Twain would have written had he ever embarked on a hunting trip in South Texas. Now you can tag along as they fight off skunks and marauding pigs. You will be there as they brave every fashion of Texas weather in a tent made of quilts and calico. You'll watch their dealings with former slaves living in the river bottoms. You'll hear tales of love powders, ghosts and even a pterodactyl. And through it all you'll enjoy the company of Absalom, the most useless hunting dog ever to draw breath in Texas. This animal, while greatly loved by Priour, brought them misery at every turn. Of course, you'll read some well written and detailed accounts of the bird hunting they did too. The journey takes you from Nueces county, across the Coastal Bend to Brazoria, up to Columbus and back to Corpus Christi through Victoria and Refugio.