306 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



abundant in the region in which we were encamped that one 

 gun brought down a hundred ducks or geese on morning and 

 evening flight shooting alone, and I heard of a hunter there 

 who killed over two thousand ducks in eleven days with :i 

 muzzle-loader. I have brought in twelve brace of grouse for 

 a morning's work myself, and when out after hares I did not 

 find much difficulty in bagging from twenty to twenty-five in 

 a day. 



Game animals were so abundant in fact, that the whole 

 country seemed one preserve, and a person might shoot there 

 day after day for months without seeming to affect their 

 numbers. One cause for the profusion of small game, 

 whether fur or feather, is the absence of foxes in the wooded 

 districts, so that having few enemies, except wild cats or 

 wolves, and having a mild climate and plenty of food at all 

 seasons, they multiply in the most rapid manner. We had 

 our choice of all of them, and if ever men feasted on the 

 best of wild game we did. 



When we returned home the venison was distributed equally 

 among all the party, my share being given to the gentleman 

 in whose house I was temporarily residing. To cap the 

 climax of our fortnight's fun, the musical member of the 

 expedition decided to give what he humorously called 

 " a grand hunt ball/' and to this all the neighbours were 

 invited. 



A large wooden barn, which was used as a store-room for 

 wheat and other grain, was emptied of its bins, and turned 

 into a sightly and capacious ball-room by entwining the roof 

 with evergreens, and hanging garlands of the same from side to 

 side and decorating them with rosettes made of vari-coloured 

 paper. The seats were made of barrels on which wooden planks 

 were placed, but those who preferred softer material were re- 

 quested to bring chairs with them. The ball was an important 

 event in that quiet neighbourhood, and caused much pleasurable 

 excitement among the young people ; it even proved a pleasant 

 topic of conversation among the old; hence, when it came off, 

 it was attended by the beauty and chivalry of Blank Prairie. 

 The former were perfect specimens of rustic life, and the 



