274 



WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



to make the vessel sit upon the water with the natural 

 grace of the swan. To make it still more realistic, the 

 archness of the neck, the beautifully shaped head, were 

 placed at the prow, while the gondola itself followed 

 in shape the body of the bird, while fluted and corrug- 

 ated wings extended symmetrically toward the stern of 

 the boat. It was in such a barge as this that Cleopatra 

 first went forth, and met and conquered Antony, not 

 by force and arms, but with fascinating glances, oriental 

 loveliness, and Egyptian splendor. 



I have not seen a swan for years until this spring, 

 when my companion and myself had the good fortune 

 of securing two. They were evidently travellers bound 

 for the distant North, and stopped among us tempora- 

 rily for food and rest. There were fifteen in the flock. 

 The two we got had separated from the rest, and we 

 shot them in the middle of the Mississippi river, amongst 

 floating ice, having first trimmed our low scull-boat to 

 represent a drifting cake of ice. They were both old 

 birds, one weighing 19 Ibs., and the other a few pounds 

 heavier. The heaviest and largest one I have had 

 mounted, the other being skinned, rewarded us with 

 the nicest down I ever saw, being fully two inches in 

 length, and of the purest white. There are no partic- 

 ular instructions to be given as to the manner of shoot- 

 ing them, they are too rarely found. Getting them 

 is ascribed wholly to luck, the duck-hunter coming 

 upon them unexpectedly while in pursuit of wild fowl. 



When the hunter has the rare good fortune to kill 

 one, it is a bright spot in his experience, and an event 

 which he always remembers with pleasure. 



Their habits are similar to geese. They are exceed- 

 ingly wary, always rise up-wind, and should be ap- 



