WILD DUCKS. 281 
served, ought to pay them a visit, or sit down to one of 
their repasts. Mere eating and drinking are not every- 
thing with the sportsmen, however, for songs and stories, 
and many a flash of wit enliven the festive board. 
No country, in my opinion, equals the United States in 
the preparation of game dinners, and Paris cannot even 
compare with Baltimore in this particular line of cook- 
ery. Epicurianism, so far as it relates to game, has been 
SWAN-BOAT. 
brought to the highest standard in the latter city, and 
few bon vivents are found there who cannot discourse 
learnedly and eloquently on the delicacy of a canvas- 
back duck, the fulness of turtle soup, the ripeness of tur- 
tle eggs, the flavor of celery, and the bouquet of sherry or 
Bordeaux—which are the usual wines consumed at din- 
ners. Although all the large hotels throughout the coun- 
try boast of their tables, I doubt if any of them equal 
those of Baltimore, when the shooting season opens, in 
November, for persons may then find on their bills of fare 
