SHOOTING FROM A HOUSE-BOAT. 44 1 



but few waters. The following account, from the 

 graceful pen of Mr. Wilmot Townsend, tells how this 

 form of sport is enjoyed on Lake Champlain : 



What is a house-boat blind ? Simply a flat-bottomed 

 boat with a house thereon, covering three-quarters of 

 its length and hidden entirely in cedar boughs, top, 

 sides and all around. And so artfully is the cedar ar- 

 ranged that the resemblance to a green islet (save for 

 its somewhat regular outlines) is complete. 



With tight roof and sides, the interior of this little 

 house is a veritable snuggery furnished with bunks, 

 table, camp stools, gun rack, shelves for provisions and 

 cartridges, and last but not least, a kerosene stove, 

 which, when kept properly cleaned and trimmed, will 

 give you a smoking hot dinner at short notice. 



And after a day spent in the open air, when the lungs 

 are filled to cracking with the pure breeze that filters 

 down through the groves of pine and hemlock covering 

 the hills, and comes all pungent with balsamic odors, to 

 dance about the clear waters of Champlain, "a smoking 

 hot dinner," sauced with the ravenous appetite of a 

 wolf, is not to be despised. 



The house, occupying three-quarters of the boat's 

 length, leaves the bow clear, and here you have ample 

 room to stand and with a good field glass may sweep 

 the lake in search of fowl. 



A portion of this space is occupied by a roomy and 

 comfortable coop for the live decoys, the cedar being 

 carried up in front and at the sides to about shoulder 



