276 
1772. 
(nen a! 
February, 
A JOURNEY TO THE 
a very pleafing change in the food. It is alfo re | 
ported, (though Iconfefs I doubt the truth of it,) 
that 
procefs that to make a number of hedges, or fences, projeét into the water, 
at right angles, from the banks of ariver, lake, or pond; for it is obferve | 
ed that thofe birds generally {wim near the margin, for the benefit of feed= 
ing on the grafs, &c. ‘Thofe fences are continued for fome diftance from 
the fhore, and feparated two or three yards from each other, fo that open- 
ings are left fufficiently large to let the birds fwim through, In each of 
thofe openings a fnare is hung and faftened to a ftake, which the birdy. 
when intangled cannot drag from the bottom ; and to prevent the fnare 
from being wafted out ofits proper place by the wind, it is fecured to the 
ftakes which form the epening, with tender gtafs, which is eafily 
broken. 
This method, though it has the appearance of being very fimple, is ne- 
verthelefs attended with much trouble, particularly when we confider the 
fmallnefs of their canoes, and the great inconveniency they labour under 
in performing works of this kind in the water. Many of the ftakes ufed 
on thofe occafions are of a confiderable length and fize, and the fmall bran- | 
ches which form the principal part of the hedges, are not arranged with-_ 
out much caution, for fear of overfetting the canoes, particularly where the 
water is deep, as itisin fome of the lakes; and in many of the rivers the, 
current is very fwift, which renders this bufinefs equally troublefome. 
When the lakes and rivers are fhallow, the natives are frequently at the 
pains to make fences from fhore to fhore. - 
To {are thofe birds in their nefts requires a confiderable degree of ar 
and, as the natives fay, a great deal of cleanlinefs; for they have obferved, 
that when fnares have been fet by thofe whole hands were not clean, th 
birds would not go into the neft. 
Even the goofe, though fo firple a bird, is notorioufly known to forlall 
her eggs, if they were breathed on by the Indians. 
The fimalle: fpecies of birds which make their neft on the ground, are b 
no means fo delicate, of courfe lefs care is neceflary to fnare them. | It h 
been obferved that all birds which build in the ground go into reir n@ 
at one particular fide, and ontof iton the oppofite. ‘The Indians, t 
roughly convinced of this, always fet the fnares on the fide on which the 
bird entersthe neft; and if care be taken in fetting them, feldom failof 
feizing their obje&t. For fmall birds, fuch as larks, and many others of 
equal fize, the Indians only ufe two or three hairs out of their head; but 
for larger birds, particularly fwans, geefe, and ducks, they make fnares of 
deer-finews, twifted like packthread, and occafionally of a fimall thong cut 
fiom a parchment deer-fkin. | 
