and the Maritime Provinces. 365 



of bird and beast that furnishes a tonic for the poisoned lungs of men who 

 spend the greater part of the year in the crowded and smoky cities. 



" The true sportsman is not the man who simply knows how to use a 

 gun. The only kind of hunting that appeals to him is that which involves 

 a veritable contest of wit with the animal hunted. The man's patience 

 and ingenuity and perseverance play almost as important a part as the 

 rifle plays in overcoming the native skill, agility and cunning of the game. 



" The man who would become a successful hunter, must show his 

 superiority over the game which he pursues, by other means than those 

 which the implements of the chase afford. The true sportsman does not 

 go out merely to kill, and if he did, his reward would not be sufficient to 

 justify a repetition of the undertaking. 



" He goes into the woods for many things that are more delightful 

 even than a successful conclusion of the hunt. 



" If all his arduous efforts finally are rewarded by success, he feels an 

 additional joy, of course, but if he comes back without a single trophy of 

 the chase, he has secured a benefit and a delight which nobody who has 

 not been engaged in the same occupation ever can realize. 



" His head is cleared and his body is hardened and strengthened, and 

 there is no duty in life which he cannot meet with greater courage and 

 capacity than were his before he partook of the peculiar pleasures of the 

 pathless woods. 



" In conclusion, I would like to say that on my many hunting and 

 fishing trips I have met some of the noblest men in the world, and formed 

 and perpetuated friendships that are more valued than anything else on 

 earth. 



" We never meet mean men in the woods. Such men have nothing in 

 common with the woods and lakes, and mother Nature has no charms for 

 them. If, by chance, you happen to run across such a person, you may be 

 assured you will never meet him under like conditions again, for he never 

 visits the woods a second time." 



In this connection, a few words in relation to the work of the Massa- 

 chusetts Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and Game will not be out of 

 place. That commission, which was a pioneer in its special line of 

 work, has had among its members some of the most prominent and most 

 highly respected men in the Commonwealth, such as Col. Theodore Lyman, 

 Hon. Asa French, and Prof. F. W. Putnam. 



Its annual reports give a good idea of what it desires and accomplishes, 

 and a file of these shows the status, year by year, of the great interests it 

 has in charge. 



Undoubtedly, with larger means at its disposal, it might have accom- 

 plished more than it has, but its labors have unquestionably been of value, 



