274 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1772. the year ; so that they seldom are in want of a good 



^ '^"^'■y- Winter's stock. 



Geese, ducks, and swans visit here in great plenty during 

 their migrations both in the Spring and Fall, and by much art, 

 joined to an insurmountable patience, are caught in consider- 

 able numbers in snares,* and, [276] without doubt, make a 

 very pleasing change in the food. It is also reported, (though 

 I confess I doubt the truth of it,) [277] that a remarkable 

 species of partridges as large as English fowls, are found in 

 that part of the country only. Those, as well as the common 

 partridges, it is said, are killed in considerable numbers, with 

 snares, as well as with bows and arrows. 



The river and lakes near the little forest where the family 

 above mentioned had fixed their abode, abound with fine fish, 

 particularly trout and barbie, which are easily caught ; the 

 former with hooks, and the latter in nets. In fact, I have 

 not seen or heard of any part of this country which seems to 

 possess half the advantages requisite for a constant residence, 

 that are ascribed to this little spot. The descendents, how- 

 ever, of the present inhabitants must in time evacuate it for 



* To snare swans, geese, or ducks, in the water, it requires no other process 

 than to make a number of hedges, or fences, project into the water, at right 

 angles, from the banks of a river, lake, or pond ; for it is observed that those 

 birds generally swim near the margin, for the benefit of feeding on the grass, 

 &c. Those fences are continued for some distance from the shore, and 

 separated two or three yards from each other, so that openings are left 

 sufficiently large to let the birds swim through. In each of those openings a 

 snare is hung and fastened to a stake, which the bird, when intangled, cannot 

 drag from the bottom ; and to prevent the snare from being wafted out of its 

 proper place by the wind, it is secured to the stakes which form the opening, 

 with tender grass, which is easily broken. 



This method, though it has the appearance of being very simple, is 

 nevertheless attended with much trouble, particularly when we consider the 

 smallness of their canoes, and the great inconveniency they labour under in 

 performing works of this kind in the water. Many of the stakes used on those 

 occasions are of a considerable length and size, and the small branches which 

 form the principal part of the hedges, are not arranged without much caution, 

 for fear of oversetting the canoes, particularly where the water is deep, as it is 

 in some of the lakes ; and in many of the rivers the current is very swift, which 



