50 PEAIKIE AND FOREST. 



The droppings of these animals, with the exception of 

 their size, exactly resemble those of sheep. 



I will relate two anecdotes illustrative of the chances of 

 accident that will occasionally occur to the sportsman, even 

 when in pursuit of animals which are generally deemed 

 harmless ; and clearly proving how necessary presence of 

 mind and decision of character are to the person who 

 adopts wild life, or hopes to return safely from a trip to 

 the comparatively unknown tracks of the" great north- 

 western portion of the American continent. 



" The ice had just disappeared from the rivers ; the wild 

 duck had already arrived in immense numbers, so that our 

 table daily had been graced with the choicest varieties, 

 when a thought struck me that an alteration of fish for 

 fowl would be most acceptable to the palates of the 

 encampment. About a couple of miles distant, where the 

 river, contracted to one-fourth its usual breadth, rushed 

 into a noble pool, I had on the previous year been most 

 successful; moreover, it was a pleasant place to fish no 

 overhanging bushes, but gently sloping, gravelly banks 

 nearly the entire length of its margin. In an hour I had 

 secured more trout than I felt disposed to carry ; so, work 

 being over, I treated myself to a pipe. While enjoying 

 my baccy, a wading bird of a description I never before 

 saw lit close to me. It was so tame that I threw several 

 stones at it, almost with success, for the distance was not 

 over ten or fifteen yards, before it took to wing, and went 

 farther down the stream. Anxious to procure a new 

 specimen, I followed till almost a mile lay between me and 

 my fish. To save distance in returning, I determined to 



