THE GOOSE. 203 



rally so high in the air as to place them beyond the 

 reach of the sportsman's gun. They have great pow- 

 er of wing, and although their flight is not so swift as 

 that of the pigeon, and some other birds, they proceed 

 with a steady and business-like manner, which, in a 

 few days, carries them to a vast distance. After they 

 begin their journey, they do not rest, night or day, but, 

 guided by that mysterious faculty, called instinct, they 

 wing their way, in a direct line from the shores of the 

 Atlantic, to the frozen regions of the north. There, 

 having reared their young, guided by the same instinc- 

 tive power, they return again to the warmer regions 

 of the south. Ever since the memory of man, these 

 migrations have been as constant as the return of 

 autumn and spring. 



There is a belief that these birds lay and hatch their 

 young in Canada, or on the shores of the northern 

 lakes. But this is so far from being true, that no one 

 has yet pretended to have seen their breeding places 

 in any part of the world. Large flocks of them are 

 every year seen flying over the coasts of Greenland, 

 and Iceland, still pursuing their way to the north ; and 

 it is not improbable that they build their nests under 

 the pole itself, where, save themselves, no living crea- 

 ture is seen, and where the eye of man will never 

 penetrate. 



No bird is more eagerly pursued by the fowler than 

 this. The moment they arrive from the cold and 

 silent regions of the pole, at any inhabited land, the 

 attack on them commences. At Hudson's Bay, the 

 English Company's settlement depend much on these 

 fowl as a means of 'subsistence through the year. 



