DUCK-SHOOTING. 267 
They build a big house—a sort of family house, as 
I call it—where a number of them dwell; and 
around it, about fifty rods off, smaller ones, where 
each rat appears to feed or go when he wants to be 
alone. There are generally two entrances, one 
above and the other under water, so that gees the 
bay is frozen over they can get in’ 
“ How do you catch them ? ” f 
“We set spring-traps of iron, but without teeth, 
so as not to hurt the skin, near. their houses, and 
where we think they will be apt to step into them. 
The time to catch them is from the Ist of March till 
the 10th of April.” : 
“Can anybody trap them ?’ 
“Oh no, sir; that wouldn’t do at all; a person 
has to own the land, or have the right to trap. The 
land i sige . worth tatic, though—only, about a dollar 
an acre.’ es 
“The Indian name ce danske at is said to be 
musksquash ?” 
“T don’t know how bit is; but I have heard 
people call them so. There are a good many in the 
marsh, and we sometimes make three or four hun- 
dred dollars a year from them.” 
“But, as the swamp fills up and the land makes, 
won't they disappear?” 
“No, sir; the swamp isn’t filling up; but the 
land is sinking, or the water rising—either one er 
the other; for the swamp is growing larger. The 
trees on the island are being killed by the water— 
some are dead already; and every year more high 
