1911 GAME AND FISHERIES. 57 



waters has long been famous for. This season so far promises to be exceptionally- 

 good, and some fine catches have already been exhibited. 



During the month of July, with exceptionally fine weather, the tourists con- 

 tinued to come in in large numbers until the hotels were all filled to their utmost 

 capacity, then summer boarding houses and cottages were all filled, then large tents 

 were erected and occupied by tourists. Those tents were in evidenci^ on the shores 

 and banks of the Rideau Canai hain of lakes from Kingston to Newboro, being 

 the part of those waters patrolled by the *' Mermaid" and managed by him this 

 season. He acknowledges that he is not possessed of language adequate to de- 

 scribe the beautiful appearance of the Eideau covered with boats of all and every 

 kind, filled with tourists of all ages and nationalities well pleased with every part 

 of their surroundings, but above all with the good fishing afforded by those waters 

 under his supervision, which was better this season than ever before, and yielding 

 a Jarge increase of revenue. This is very gratifying to himself, as well as to all 

 others concerned. The fisheries of the above mentioned district have been under 

 his care for the last six years, and to find them improving, with the great amount 

 of angling done every summer, is certainly very gratifying to him. The Americans 

 now as a whole are well pleased with the Ontario Fishery Law. He has not met 

 one man this season but was willing to take out an angler's license and pay the 

 required fee of $2, which they think fair and just. 



As the season wears on and the month of August comes in, the hotels and 

 boarding houses are still crowded with tourists — mostly non-residents of Ontario. 

 Some are leaving for home, and others coming in to fill the rooms just vacated. 

 Almost every day during this month, the " Mermaid " may be seen on patrol on 

 the Eideau waters somewhere between ISTewboro and Kingston. Towards the last 

 of the month, the tourists begin to talk about home. The camps on the banks of 

 the canal waters are disappearing, and the boarding houses are becoming vacated. 

 The hotels still do a fair amount of business, but it is easy to see that the best 

 of the season is over for them. 



During the month of September, a new trouble for the overseer arises, viz., 

 to educate the people who have been in the habit for years to turn out at daybreak 

 on the morning of the first of September to have what they call the first shot at 

 the ducks, this being in the past the first of the open season. It has now been 

 changed to the 15th, which he is sure from experience is a very wise One, as it 

 gives time for the young birds to more fully mature, and they are not so easy to 

 capture by the wily sportsman. But to make this change in the open season to be 

 properly understood by the people of this country has been no small part of the 

 overseer's work, if he has thoroughly attended to it. The fact that the season for 

 plover, quail, waders and snipe is still as before makes an excuse for the poacher 

 to get out with his gun on the first of the month and shoot, and it is very difficult 

 for the overseer always to know just the kind of birds he is hunting. He would 

 suggest that the open season for the last mentioned birds be also changed to tlie 

 loth, as it would give the overseers a better chance to protect the ducks. 



There are still some tourists stopping at the hotels in his district, and the 

 fishing is reported good. Some fine specimens are still to be seen at the hotels in 

 the evenings when the sportsmen come in from their d.iy's 4>ort. The weatlier 

 during September was unusually fine, lots of work for the overseer, and good, fine 

 vveather to do his work in. 



It was easy to be seen during October that the tourist season was coming to a 

 close, which season has been the best in every way in his experience, both finan- 



