CANVASS-BACK DUCK. 223 



who lives near James' river, at a place called Herring 

 Creek, informs me, that, one severe winter, he and 

 another person broke a hole in the ice about twenty by 

 forty feet, immediately over a shoal of grass, and took 

 their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each having 

 three guns well loaded with large shot. The ducks, 

 which were flying up and down the river in great 

 extremity, soon crowded to this place, so that the whole 

 open space was not only covered with them, but vast 

 numbers stood on the ice around it. They had three 

 rounds, firing both at once, and picked up eighty-eight 

 canvass-backs, and might have collected more had they 

 been able to get to the extremity of the ice after the 

 wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80, the 

 grass, on the roots of which these birds feed, was almost 

 wholly destroyed in James' river. In the month of 

 January, the wind continued to blow from W.N.W. for 

 twenty-one days, which caused such low tides in the 

 river, that the grass froze to the ice every where, and 

 a thaw coming on suddenly, the whole was raised by 

 the roots and carried off by the fresh. The next winter 

 a few of these ducks were seen, but they soon went 

 away again ; and, for many years after, they continued 

 to be scarce ; and even to the present day, in the 

 opinion of my informant, have never been so plenty as 

 before. 



The canvass-back, in the rich juicy tenderness of its 

 flesh, and its delicacy of flavour, stands unrivalled by the 

 whole of its tribe in this or perhaps any other quarter 

 of the world. Those killed in the waters of the 

 Chesapeake are generally esteemed superior to all others, 

 doubtless from the great abundance of their favourite 

 food which these rivers produce. At our public dinners, 

 hotels, and particular entertainments, the canvass-backs 

 are universal favourites. They not only grace but 

 dignify the table, and their very name conveys to the 

 imagination of the eager epicure the most comfortable 

 and exhilarating ideas. Hence, on such occasions, it 

 has not been uncommon to pay from one to three 

 dollars a-pair for these ducks ; and, indeed, at such times, 



