78 FACT AGAINST FICTION. 



save in iny walks in tlio wilderness^ the same 

 frienclsliip lias sprung* up, and they Avill follow me 

 about ; and if I put down my gun, and leave my 

 large black retriever to sit by it till I return, by 

 him and the gun in my absence I shall find 

 pheasants, and very often wild ducks, exiDCctiiig 

 my return, assembled without fear around him. 

 While I write thus on the hound and dog, I am 

 in the habit of feeding the wild ducks and the 

 liome decoy. There are three wild ducks among the 

 surrounding flock, who always sit by my side on 

 the little seat on which I invariably make room 

 for them, — the seat is about three feet long, — and if 

 I do not feed them out of my hand as fast as they 

 wisli, they will pull at the sleeve of my shooting- 

 jacket to gain the required attention. That 

 beautiful bird, the pintailed drake, will come to 

 the report of my gun, away from the decoy, Avhen 

 shooting rabbits in the summer; and a widgeon, 

 fresh from a decoy this Avinter, 1872, will feed 

 at my foot as confidently as if he had been tame 

 all his life. As I have previously said, these things 

 cannot be attained 1)y everybody, and they sliow 

 that I am well versed in animal instinct. 



The gifted foxhound, then, in reality^ requires as 



