194 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



say the tips of the fur were black instead of white, the 

 roots preserving the natural colour. This was perhaps 

 disease, although I saw nothing else about the animal 

 which pointed to ill health. 



Babbits are sold in the Charlotte Town market for about 

 Sd. a pair, not an extravagant price, considering that they 

 are fully as large, and, I think, as good as the English 

 rabbit. The flesh is dark-coloured and makes good " hare 

 soup." The liver, kidney, and heart seasoned, tied up in 

 the paunch, and broiled on the clear coals, make a good 

 plat, and is supposed by the Micmac squaws to be a 

 certain cure for barrenness. They are snared in winter 

 by the Indian boys, who make brush fences through the 

 woods, leaving little apertures here and there for wire 

 snares. These snares are made fast to saplings which 

 are bent down to the ground, and spring back with the 

 snared rabbits, who are found in the mornings hanging 

 up by the necks, frozen stiff, some three or four feet from 

 the ground. 



Babbits are shot in the fall and even on mild days in 

 winter, when the scent lies wonderfully well on the snow. 

 For this sport two or three beagles or other slow-hunting 

 dogs are used. The Lepus A. never burrows, and when 

 started from his bed under a spruce bush or a bunch of 

 ferns, he always runs in a circle. The gunner who is 

 posted on a wood road or in an open glade will sooner or 

 later get a chance at him, provided he stands perfectly 

 still ; for a man blundering through the bush is much 

 easier seen and heard than a rabbit. The country 

 gunner who does not usually shine at a running shot 

 when he catches sight of the rabbit whistles before wasting 



