" UNACCOUNTABLES " AND OTHER SHOTS 37 



in the clump of willows some thirty yards fur- 

 ther. On going in to investigate, I found a red 

 fox kicking around in his death struggles. One 

 pellet of shot only had struck it near the eye. The 

 fox was probably what had drawn the duck's at- 

 tention, but we had not seen it. 



Pointe des Monts, Guli of St. Lawrence, is a 

 favorite place for seal hunting. The season be- 

 gins about the 10th of December and ends in 

 April, when the ice disappears. For many years 

 I devoted a good deal of time to this sport, which 

 was very interesting and remunerative. One day 

 late in March I was out as usual. The day had 

 been very fine, but seals were scarce, and what 

 few we had seen, very shy. All the seal hunters 

 in those days used shot guns, loaded with treble 

 A or SSG. shot. I was the only one there who 

 owned a rifle, a Kentucky Ballard, of 46 bore, 

 rim fire cartridges, sighted up to 500 yards. The 

 cartridge was a short one, with a rather heavy 

 bullet, which, though very accurate at short 

 range, gave it a very high trajectory at long 

 ones, making it exceedingly difficult to hit any 

 small object, if there was any error in judging 

 distance. We had just decided to return ashore, 

 when Mr. F. Poulin, who was out shooting also, 

 come alongside of us to enquire about our luck. 

 While chatting together a seal bobbed up at about 

 600 yards. "Look at that beggar," said Poulin; 

 "give him a shot to make him show his flippers." 



