FISHING ON LAKE ERIE 35 



6 a.m. we fortified ourselves for the expedition 

 with a substantial breakfast, in which ham of 

 suspiciously York flavour formed the pike de 

 resistance. Long before the first fierce rays of the 

 sun struck the lake we were far from the shore in a 

 motor boat, the doctor's fine baritone ringing out 

 cheerily at the jokes and bons mots that garnished 

 the feast of reason and the flow of soul. We had a 

 distance of twelve miles to travel before the fishing 

 ground would be reached. It lay off the point of an 

 island far away on the horizon. A couple of buoy- 

 like marks on the water showed that other anglers 

 were already on the spot. Four miles off St. Williams 

 lay White Fish Bar, where the doctor had one of 

 those much-coveted Lake Erie shootings. A wood 

 duck, winging its flight across the water, led to a 

 discussion on the merits of the sport it gave. Red 

 head, canvas-backs, black duck, pintails, teal and 

 mallard, the latter a distinct species, would visit the 

 place with the first snap of cold, and as many as thirty 

 to forty brace would be bagged in a day's shooting. 

 These hardy birds travel at a great pace, and are as 

 difficult to stop as driven partridge with a gale of 

 wind behind them. Taking one shot on the ap- 

 proach, they will be out of range of the second barrel 

 on wheeling round, The islands that afford such 

 sport consist of a good deal of marsh land, where 

 wild rice grows, on which swan and duck flourish. 

 The Government charge high fees for shooting. 



