250 WINTER PICTURES. 



A POTOMAC SKETCH. 



WHILE on a visit to Washington in January, 1878 

 I went on an expedition down the Potomac with t 

 couple of friends to shoot ducks. We left on th( 

 morning boat that makes daily trips to and from 

 Mount Vernon. The weather was chilly and th* 

 sky threatening. The clouds had a singular appear 

 ance ; they were boat-shaped, with well-defined keels 

 I have seldom known such clouds to bring rain ; the^ 

 are simply the fleet of ^Eolus, and so it proved on 

 this occasion, for they gradually dispersed or faded 

 out, and before noon the sun was shining. 



We saw numerous flocks of ducks on the passage 

 down, and saw a gun (the man was concealed) shoot 

 some from a u blind " near Fort Washington. Op- 

 posite Mount Vernon, on the flats, there was a large 

 "bed " of ducks. I thought the word a good one to 

 describe a long strip of water thickly planted with 

 them. One of my friends was a member of the 

 Washington and Mount Vernon Ducking Club, which 

 has its camp and fixtures just below the Mount Ver- 

 non landing ; he was an old ducker. For my part 

 I had never killed a duck, except with an ax, 

 nor have I yet. 



We made our way along the beach from the land 

 tog, over piles of drift-wood, and soon reached the 

 quarters, a substantial building, fitted up with a stove 



