458 DUCK SHOOTING. 



with narrow runners on the bottom ; for often it may 

 become necessary to haul the skiff up onto the ice, and 

 to use it as a sledge over the great ice fields that fre- 

 quently surround the shooter. From stem to stern 

 everything is painted white, and a netting is hung along 

 the bows for four or five feet down the gunwales on 

 both sides, in which to place pieces of ice to form a blind 

 for the shooter as he is being paddled on a flock of 

 ducks. The occupants of the skiff thus hidden, and 

 clad in white and with white cap covers, can hardly be 

 distinguished from the drifting ice. A reliable compass 

 is always carried, for the frequent fogs that hang over 

 the river often obscure the shores. A strong field glass 

 is also needed. 



Thus fitted out, John Brown and I launched our skiff 

 on the ice at a point on the river near Marcus Hook, 

 for we could not find open water higher up. For guns, 

 we had a single-barrel four-gauge piece, from which at 

 each discharge were shot three or four ounces of No. 4 

 or 5 shot ; a ten-pound ten-gauge gun, and a seven and 

 a half pound twelve-bore, for shooting over "cripples." 



I confess that I felt some fear of the hummocks of 

 ice that at once threatened us, as soon as we had pushed 

 our boat over the grounded ice and reached the open 

 water, but the coolness and business-like demeanor of 

 my paddler reassured me, and L placed myself at the 

 oars under his direction, while he faced me in the stern 

 with a helping paddle. 



Difficulties soon began to present themselves, as the 

 tide ebbed stronger. Immense fields and blocks of ice 



