79 



the everlasting croaking, but then just far enough away to be not 

 altogether unpleasant. 



A more agreeable midnight sound was the frequent whistle of the 

 Whip-poor-will, Ant/iostomits vociferus, which to my unaccustomed 

 ears was delightful. Here again we have natural sounds reproduced 

 with great fidelity in the name of this charming songster, especially 

 when the words are loudly whispered. Incidentally I may add that 

 many a time my nocturnal slumbers were disturbed by a wretched 

 cow that came and lay on the ground exactly beneath my window. 

 She was provided with a bell, hung round her neck, and in her un- 

 ceasing efforts to drive away tormenting mosquitos, seemed never 

 still for a moment. It is against the law for domestic animals to 

 be allowed to stray in this way, but the local magistrates are some- 

 times themselves the worst offenders. 



A small and usually shallow stream, the Fork River, takes its 

 rise some ten miles from Ethelbert, flowing eastward into Lake 

 Dauphin. In spring this is swollen by the melting snow, and 

 abounds with fish, chiefly one known as the "sucker," which attains 

 considerable size and a weight of several pounds. 



Every small boy provides himself with a trident, roughly forged 

 by the local blacksmith, and attached to a ten-foot pole. With this 

 he skilfully spears the fish as they come down stream, and in this 

 way provides his family with a very good breakfast. One evening 

 three men called at the houses offering for sale their day's catch, 

 which consisted of over a hundred fish, mostly " suckers." Half a 

 mile from the town there was an old beaver-dam which still 

 obstructed the course of tha river with an accumulation of logs and 

 branches, but this animal is becoming rarer, such as survive migrat- 

 ing further north. 



Formerly the most characteristic animal of the prairie region 

 was the buffalo, but chiefly on account of the enormous value of 

 the "robe," as a complete hide is called, it has been hunted to extinc- 

 tion as a wild animal. There were several full grown buffaloes 

 roaming over a strongly fenced portion of the Assiniboine Park, in 

 the city of Winnipeg, but these, like the herds preserved in Yellow- 

 stone Park, in the United States and elsewhere, can no longer be 

 considered wild animals. In fact one, feeding close to the wired 

 fencing, actually approached within reach of a handful of grass 

 which I offered it through the wide meshes of the fence. In the 

 same city may be seen a magnificent stuffed specimen, in the 

 Carnegie Library. 



