CANADA GOOSE. 15 



Reader, I am well acquainted with one of the best sportsmen now 

 living in the whole of the western country, one possessed of strength, ac- 

 tivity, courage, and patience, — qualities of great importance in a gunner. 

 I have frequently seen him mount a capital horse of speed and bottom at 

 midnight, when the mercury in the thermometer was about the freezing 

 point, and the ground was covered with snow and ice, the latter of 

 which so encased the trees that you might imagine them converted into 

 glass. Well, off he goes at a round gallop, his steed rough shod, but no- 

 body knows whither, save myself, who am always by his side. He has a 

 wallet containing our breakfast, and abundance of ammunition, together 

 with such implements as are necessary on occasions like the present. The 

 night is pitch-dark, and dismal enough ; but who cares ! He knows the 

 woods as well as any Kentucky hunter, and in this respect I am not much 

 behind him. A long interval has passed, and now the first glimpse of day 

 appears in the east. We know quite well where we are, and that we have 

 travelled just twenty miles. The Barred Owl alone interrupts the melan- 

 choly silence of the hour. Our horses we secure, and on foot we move 

 cautiously towards a " long pond," the feeding-place of several flocks of 

 geese, none of which have yet arrived, although the whole surface of open 

 water is covered with Mallards, Widgeons, Pintail Ducks, Blue-winged 

 and Green-winged Teals. My friend's gun, like mine, is a long and 

 trusty one, and the opportunity is too tempting. On all fours we cau- 

 tiously creep to the very edge of the pond ; we now raise ourselves on 

 our knees, level our pieces, and let fly. The woods resound with re- 

 peated echoes, the air is filled with Ducks of all sorts, our dogs dash 

 into the half frozen water, and in a few minutes a small heap of game 

 lies at our feet. Now, we retire, separate, and betake ourselves to diffe- 

 rent sides of the pond. If I may judge of my companion's fingers by 

 the state of my own, I may feel certain that it would be difficult for 

 him to fasten a button. There we are shivering, with contracted feet and 

 chattering teeth ; but the geese are coming, and their well known cry, 

 hauk, hauk, aiohawk, axvhawTi, resounds through the air. They wheel 

 and wheel for a while, but at length gracefully alight on the water, 

 and now they play and wash themselves, and begin to look about for 

 food. There must be at least twenty of them. Twenty more soon ar- 

 rive, and in less than half an hour we have before us a flock of a hundred 

 individuals. My experienced friend has put a snow-white shirt over his 

 apparel, and although I am greatly intent on observing his motions, I 



