CATCHING WATEE FOWL. 239 



tops of tlie trees, the rosy grosbeak nipped the tender blossoms 

 of the maples, and high overhead the loons passed in pairs, 

 rapidly wending their way toward far-distant shores. Would 

 that I could have followed in their wake! The hour of our 

 departure had come, and, as we sailed up the bay, our pilot — 

 who had been fishing for. cod — was taken on board. A few of 

 his fish were roasted on a plank before the embers^ and formed 

 the principal part of our breakfast. The breeze was light, and 

 it was not until afternoon that we arrived at Point Lepreaux 

 Harbour, where every one, making choice of his course, went in 

 search of curiosities or provender. Now, reader, the little 

 harbour in which, if you wish it, we shall suppose we still are 

 is renowned for a circumstance which I feel much inclined to 

 endeavour to explain to you. Several species of ducks, that in 

 myriads cover the waters of the Bay of Fundy, are at tmies 

 destroyed in this particular spot in a very singular manner. 

 When July has come, all the water birds that are no longer 

 capable of reproducing remain, like so many forlorn bachelors 

 and old maids, to renew their plumage along the shores. At 

 the period when these poor birds are unfit for . flight, troops of 

 Indians make their appearance in light bark canoes, paddled by 

 their squaws and papooses. They form their flotilla into an 

 extended curve, and drive before them the birds ; not in silence, 

 but with simultaneous horrific yells, at the same time beating 

 the surface of the water with their long poles and paddles, 

 Terrified by the noise, the birds swim a long way before them, 

 endeavouring to escape with all their might. The tide is high, 

 every cove is filled, and into the one where we now are thousands 

 of ducks are seen entering. The Indians have ceased to shout, 

 and the canoes advance side by side. Time passes on, the tide 

 swiftly recedes as it rose, and there are the birds left on the 

 beach. See with what pleasure each wild inhabitant of the 

 forest seizes his stick, the squaws and younglings following with 

 similar weapons ! Look at them rushing on their prey, falling 

 on the disabled birds, and smashing them with their cudgels, 

 until all are destroyed! In this manner upwards of five 

 hundred wild fowls have often been procured in a few hours. 

 Three pleasant days were spent about Point Lepreaux, when 

 the Fancy spread her wings to the breeze. In one harbour we 



