288 ACCESSIBLE FIELD SPORTS. 



her lamb, prepared to do battle with all intruders, 

 whatever may be their size or appearance. The 

 droppings of these animals, with the exception of their 

 size, exactly resemble those of sheep. 



I will here relate two anecdotes told by Mr. McNabb, 

 illustrative of the chances of accident that will occa- 

 sionally 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 com- 

 paratively 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 pre- 

 vious year been most successful ; moreover, it was a 

 pleasant pool 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; go, work being over, 



