288 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



reeds. We had to go in tiny Ainu dug-outs, the craziest, 

 wobbliest craft I have ever been in, hardly wide enough to 

 squeeze into, and rendered more unsteady by the man who 

 poles it along. One could only shoot to the left and front, to 

 turn to the right was impossible, and when in it for the first 

 time, unused to its vagaries, I nearly upset at the first shot. A 

 most unpleasant event this would have been, for the shallow 

 lake is densely covered with long weeds which grow luxuriantly 

 in the soft, deep mud. But, however good a place for shooting 

 ducks, the foul and only inn in the vicinity was impossible ; we 

 could only stand it for two nights, the smells were simply in- 

 tolerable, and the flying, hopping, and crawling insects, thriving 

 apparently in the horrible atmosphere, at last drove us away, to 

 our great regret, from this otherwise charming spot. 



