CANADA GOOSE-SHOOTING. 287 
eave off and fall into the river with a loud splash. 
And still better than this, they like to sit on some out- 
stretched sand-bar, whose long arm extends far into 
the channel, away from land, from willows and all 
places that could afford concealment to the hunter. On 
these bars, covering acres of surface, where the flowing 
water and sand have frozen together, the ice tena- 
ciously holds, and floating cakes urged and forced 
along by the clashing mass are hurled up, piling ten to 
thirty feet high on the out-jetting point. This is the 
spot they like best in all the river, for they feel com- 
paratively safe here. 
The hunter in the scull-boat, attracted to this place 
of resort by frequent honks, starts for them, first 
“trimming” his boat. The boat is low, and her decks 
extend but a slight distance above the water, decked 
overat bow and sides. There is abundant room to make 
an excellent blind. This is done by sprinkling mud 
and sand over bow and sides for a foundation, then 
arranging the cakes of ice on bow and sides with great- 
est care, so that when coming down the river, the boat 
will seem like a small ice-cake, drifting with the current. 
The ice must be placed on the bow high enough to 
hide the sculler and companion from the birds. On the 
side, thin sheets of ice, resting on the outer combing, 
a combing half an inch high at the outside, then leaning 
against the five-inch gunwale more ice, until the 
whole resembles an ice floe, about 12 feet long, four feet 
wide and from teninches to two feet high. When the 
boat is finished it must be trimmed with the greatest 
nicety, so that when the two hunters are in position, it 
will be perfectly balanced, with the boat’s nose or bow 
well loaded down, as it then sculls and handles easier. 
