454 DUCK SHOOTING. 



wheat that are wrecked and scattered along its shores. 

 Thither the ducks congregate, and after many weeks' 

 feeding on the water-soaked grain their flesh becomes 

 fat and fine-flavored. 



They feed with ease in water that is twelve to fifteen 

 feet deep, diving to the bottom and remaining under 

 water an incredible time. It is often amusing to shoot 

 at one or two ducks swimming about, and the next in- 

 stant to see the water broken in all directions by the 

 birds popping up from underneath, where they have 

 been breakfasting. Now is the time for alertness, for 

 if the gunners are busy enough they may slaughter 

 rrmny before they have made a change of elements. 



Ice forms in the shoal water many yards from the 

 shore. Anchor ice and frozen spray are piled upon this 

 in wild confusion, until it looks like the surface of a 

 glacier, with hillocks and crevasses. Frequently spout 

 holes are formed, out of which the water, forced up- 

 ward by the waves dashing underneath, leaps for many 

 feet into the air, and freezing as it falls, forms a cone 

 like those in the crater of a volcano. 



The outer edge of this ice reef is formed into a line 

 of ice clifi^s and battlements containing caves of won- 

 drous beauty and little coves and fjords like a miniature 

 Norway coast line. 



The hunters are clad in garments of white duck, 

 white caps covering the hair, and white masks. Even 

 white covers are used for the guns. The^e are ar- 

 ranged to be easily slipped ofif when the time of action 

 arrives. An excavation is made on the edge of the ice, 



