EARLY LIFE 15 



of wood. These last were very much like the 

 grains used on vessels. A hard piece of wood 

 was selected, the end split into four or six pieces, 

 small wedges inserted to open out the points, 

 and these afterwards sharpened. They were 

 very deadly on small fish like caplin or sand- 

 eels, frequently impaling three or four in one 

 throw. We used the iron pointed ones to kill 

 such fish as flounders, lump fish, sculpins and 

 rock-eels, and sometimes crabs and an odd lob- 

 ster. We did not care much for the two latter, 

 as we were afraid of the claws. Other favorite 

 sports were setting snares for small game, mak- 

 ing dead falls and chasing birds with the bow 

 and arrow. This sort of thing continued till I 

 was seven years old when a big event took place. 

 For my birthday gift my father gave me a gun; 

 not a wooden or tin toy gun, but a real gun that 

 could be loaded with powder and shot ! How de- 

 lighted I was ! Never shall I forget that day ! I 

 had no appetite for the good things my mother 

 had prepared for me, but thought only of the 

 gun. That night I hardly slept at all, and when 

 I did sleep, would dream of that fine gun, a des- 

 cription of which may interest my readers. It 

 was what was usually called a Hudson Bay trade 

 gun, a flint lock of 28 bore, with a stock of good 

 strong hard wood which extended the whole 

 length of the barrel. Every part of the gun was 

 as strong as possible, and it was a very rare thing 



