Montreal 71 



miles north of the city, affords fair pike fishing in spring, and 

 bass fishing in August ; but for a thorough day's sport we 

 would recommend our traveller to take the morning train 

 to Lachine, have a boat ready for him there, or at Caughna- 

 waga, and an Indian to paddle him up to the mouth .of the 

 Chateauguay River ; there he will find fish enough to fill his 

 basket and afford him all the sport of this part of the St. 

 Lawrence waters, from a maskinong^ to a goodly sized perch. 

 No other good fishing ground is to be met with nearer than 

 Boucherville or St. Johns, and for trout than New Glasgow, 

 some twenty-seven miles northwards. 



The shooting, too, in the vicinity is one of the things that 

 were. A few snipe are to be had near the Water Works and 

 in the swamps along the River St. Pierre ; also on the road to 

 the Back River, near a place known as Bougies ConterSy there 

 is good snipe ground. Woodcock are plentiful in some 

 seasons in the cedar swamps of the island, but the nearest 

 good cock shooting to the city is at St. Andrews, on the 

 Ottawa, and at Norton Creek. A few ducks may be had in 

 the spring and fall near Lachine, taking the islands on the 

 Caughnawaga side ; but the islands at Boucherville afford 

 excellent sport. The absence of any really good sporting 

 on the island, however, is compensated for in the Montreal 

 Fox Hounds, a subscription pack, which would do credit to 

 any Leicester field, and which are ably managed and hunted 

 as long as the season permits. They seldom or never fail to 

 "find," and, meeting always within easy distance of the city, 

 they afford a healthy means of exercise to the lover of the 

 chase. Since the garrison has been here of late years, the 

 races and steeple chases have become quite an institution ; 

 and snow shoe clubs, skating rinks (of which the Victoria 

 carries the palm) cricket and base ball, afford plent of amuse- 

 ment to the less ardent admirer of sports. Uneriticing as 

 the word " Rink" may be to strangers, few places are more 

 fondly regarded by the youthful portion of the community 



