THE SPOETSMAN IN WINTEE. 107 



the Wener. I don't know that I ever enjoyed myself 

 more than I used to do in August and September, when 

 I would make little trips, with my old man in my 

 punt, on to the lake. We used to take our provisions 

 with us, and our fishing and shooting tackle, and camp 

 out, and cook our meals on one of the little islands 

 which stud the lake. It was not so much the sport I cared 

 about, as the pleasure I used to feel in wandering free 

 and unmolested among such beautiful scenery. I used, 

 however, to pick up a good many birds, and, in 1863, 

 I bagged above 200 couple of ducks and snipe, princi- 

 pally the former, close round us, and I was not out 

 thirty times. I could go pretty well where I pleased, 

 for every one around was kind and civil, and I had shooting, 

 such as it was, over far more ground than ever I cared to 

 walk over. 



The only fish we used to get around us, were pike, 

 perch, and roach, pike-perch (or gos), jack, bream, and 

 the commoner fresh-water fish. We had no salmon-trout 

 near us, although many places in the Wener abound in 

 them, and about three miles north-west we had some very 

 fair little trout-streams, and two lakes full of charr, up to 

 5 Ib. weight, and even larger. 



I passed a very happy life, because I had plenty to 

 do with my collecting, else the time would have often hung 

 very heavy on my hands in the winter, for at this time there 

 is little or nothing to be done in these forests. If a man is 

 ever so keen a sportsman, he is of necessity kept a prisoner 

 by the weather many days in doors, when he cannot get out 

 at all for the snow ; and moreover if he could get into the 

 forests at this season, they appear to be quite deserted. 

 I never could fancy where all the forest game is at this 

 season. In England the shooter reckons on his best and 

 most varied bags in the winter. In Sweden the season for 

 game may be said to close in November, for then all the 

 ducks, snipe, and woodcocks have left us. The game birds 

 which remain in the forest I believe all sit quiet in the trees, 

 where no dog can find them ; and except an odd fox (for we 



