CH. in.] WILD-RICE LAKES. 55 



former, (a hint by-the-bye for your own costume) ;* he 

 should be perfectly mute ; of a patient disposition, 

 though active in the pursuit of birds ; of so hardy a 

 constitution as not to mind the severest cold, therefore 

 no coddling while he is young near a fire, and possess 

 what many are deficient in, viz., a good nose : conse- 

 quently, a cross that will improve his nose, yet not 

 decrease his steadiness, is the great desideratum in 

 breeding. He should swim rapidly, for wild-fowl that 

 are only winged, will frequently escape from the quick- 

 est dog, if they have plenty of sea-room and deep 

 water. (See also 113, 553, 567.) 



94. Wild-fowl emit a stronger scent than is, I believe, generally 



supposed. At Mr. G r's, in Surrey, Mr. L g was shooting 



one day last season, when his pointer " Flint " drew for some time 

 towards the river, and brought the sportsmen to the stump of an 

 old tree. They could see nothing, and thought the dog must be 

 standing at a moorhen ; but on one of the beaters trying with a 



stick, out flew a mallard like a shot from a gun. As Mr. L g 



levelled his tubes, it is unnecessary to observe that it fell ; but 

 probably it would have been lost had not " Flint," when encouraged, 



jumped into the water and brought the bird to land. A Mr. C e, 



living near Edinburgh, whom I have the pleasure of knowing, has 

 a white setter that is a capital hand at finding ducks, and sets them 

 steadily. 



95. In the wild-rice lakes, as they are commonly 

 called, of America, a brace of highly-trained spaniels 

 will sometimes, on a windy day, afford you magnificent 



* But when the moors are can escape from their enemies by 

 covered with snow, poachers, who speed, are mostly of one colour, 

 emerge in bands from the mines, On the .contrary, the tiger kind, 

 often put a shirt over their clothes, snakes, and all that lie in wait 

 and manage to approach grouse at for, and seize their prey by stealth, 

 a time when a fair sportsman can- wear a garment of many colours, 

 not get a shot ; but this is the so do the smaller animals and most 

 only occasion on which one uni- birds, which are saved from cap- 

 form colour could be advantageous, ture by the inability of their foes 

 A mass of any single colour always to distinguish them from the sur- 

 catches, and arrests the eye. Na- rounding foliage or herbage. The 

 ture tells us this ; animals that uniform of our rifle corps is too 

 browse, elephants, buffaloes, and much of one hue.] 

 large deer, as well as those which 



