358 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



on-loads of venison, a bear, two otters, and three beavers, 

 the two latter species of animals having been shot during 

 moonlight nights while they were out enjoying themselves. 

 The abundance of trout in these streams and lakes is some- 

 thing wonderful, it being nothing unusual for one rod to 

 capture a hundred pounds in weight in a day. Winged 

 game was so abundant in the region in which we were en- 

 camped that one gun brought down a hundred ducks or 

 geese on morning and evening flight shooting alone; and 

 I heard of a hunter there who killed over two thousand 

 ducks in eleven days with a muzzle-loader. I have brought 

 in twelve brace of grouse for a morning's work myself, and 

 when out after hares I did not find much difficulty in bag- 

 ging from twenty to twenty-five in a day. 



Game animals were so abundant, in fact, that the whole 

 country seemed one preserve, and a person might shoot 

 there day after day for months without seeming to affect 

 their numbers. One cause for the profusion of small game, 

 whether fur or feather, is the absence of foxes in the wood- 

 ed districts; so that, having few enemies except wild-cats 

 or wolves, and having a mild climate and plenty of food at 

 all seasons, they multiply in the most rapid manner. We 

 had our choice of all of them, and if ever men feasted on 

 the best of wild game, we did. 



When we returned home, the venison was distributed 

 equally among all the party, my share being given to the 

 gentleman in whose house I was temporarily residing. To 

 cap the climax of our fortnight's fun, the musical mem- 

 ber of the expedition decided to give what he humorously 

 called " a grand hunt ball," and to this all the neighbors 

 were invited. 



A large wooden barn, which was used as a store-room 

 for wheat and other grain, was emptied of its bins, and 

 turned into a sightly and capacious ball-room by entwining 

 the roof with evergreens, and hanging garlands of the same 

 from side to side, and decorating them with rosettes made 

 of vari-colored paper. The seats were made of barrels on 

 which wooden planks were placed ; but those who prefer- 



