and the Maritime Provinces. 89 



CHAPTER III. 



BUILDING A "SMOKER." THE OTTER AND HIS HABITS. — A RAPACIOUS 



FISH DESTROYER. THE MINK AND HIS DEPREDATIONS. An ENEMY 



TO TROUT. A NICE CATCH STOLEN. THE SHELDRAKE A GREAT 



PEST ON A SALMON RIVER. TROUT PONDS DEPOPULATED BY EELS. 



Another turn at the outlet of "Big brook." — A heavy sea 



and a ducking. weatherwise guides. victim of a fox. — 



Habits and characteristics of the fox. — The domestic cat, 

 "run wild," destructive to game birds. — The Virginia par- 

 tridge OR QUAIL : ITS PECULIARITIES AND VALUE AS A GAME BIRD. 



Enemies of the quail. — The American woodcock and its 



HISTORY. 



EFORE sunrise on the following morning we were astir, 



for the guides were anxious to have the " smoker " 



erected and in full operation as early as possible. 



Breakfast was ready by the time we had finished our 



morning bath, and as soon as it had been eaten and 



things tidied up, Hiram and William disappeared in 



the neighboring woods, from which the sound of their 



busy axes was soon heard. A considerable number of sticks, six inches 



in diameter, is required to erect a smoker six or eight feet in height, and 



no small amount of labor and ingenuity is needed to build it. 



The woodsman is an adept in the use of the axe, and our guides were 

 highly accomplished in this respect. The axe in the woods is an universal 

 tool, performing, as it does, the work of the chisel, plane, drawing-knife, 

 and I know not what else. 



While the brothers were busy at their work we took our rods, and for 

 two or three hours cast our flies in the two pools below the outlet. Our 

 efforts were rewarded by a few medium-sized sea trout and a grilse, but 

 no salmon made their presence known in the pools. 



At the foot of the second pool we saw an otter which emerged from 

 the water with a large trout in his mouth ; he paused for a moment when 

 he reached the shore, gazing at us with curiosity, his beady-black eyes shin- 

 ing brightly, and then disappeared in the thicket. 



That the otter is a destroyer of trout and salmon is pretty generally 

 known, but probably few are aware of the great number of fish that is 



