258 Mr. G. Barnston un the Swans and Geese of Hudson's Bay. 



It is difficult to form a very accurate idea of the numbers of 

 that poi'tion of the genus Anser which we have just passed under 

 review. Of the quantity shot at particular points where they 

 become a matter of provision for the -Hudson's Bay Company's 

 establishments, we can arrive at a pretty exact estimate. 

 Seventeen to twenty thousand Geese are sometimes killed by the 

 Albany Indians in the fall of the year, and perhaps about half 

 of that number in the spring, say the end of April and the 

 month of May, making a total for Albany alone, of all descriptions 



of the above-mentioned geese, of 30,000 



I cannot speak so decidedly as to the other parts ; but, 



at a fair computation from what I know of them, 



Moose may afford in some years nearly 6,000 



Rupert's River Post 5,000 



Eastmain and to the northward 4,000 



making a total for James's Bay of 45,000 



Along the Hudson's Bay western coast in the northern 

 department, I should say that far fewer were bagged. 



Severn stands well as a hunting-station where Geese 

 are plentiful and Indians numerous, and I cannot 

 compute its annual yield at less than 8,000 



York Factory frequently fails in procuring any con- 

 siderable supply, and I therefore would not rate it 

 as giving more than 2,000 



Churchill is generally better than this ; and when the 

 Chipewyans belonging to the establishment come in 

 great numbers to the Goose-hunt, we may reckon 

 upon 2,500 



We thus have an annual thinning of the wild Geese 



passing northwards and southwards along the coasts 



of Hudson's Bay of 57,500 



But as many Geese must die wounded, and others be got hold 



of by the fox, we may safely make the total loss to the flocks 



running the fiery gauntlet as 60,000. Of these perhaps 



40,000, or two-thirds, are shot in the fall. 



Now supposing that one-eighth of the whole bands fall to the 



gun, we have a round number of 360,000 Geese proceeding 



