DUCK- SHOOTING. 267 



They build a big house — a sort of family house, as 

 I call it — where a number of them dwell ; and 

 around it, about fifty rods ofi", smaller ones, where 

 each rat appears to feed or go when he wants to be 

 alone. There are generally two entrances, one 

 above and the other under water, so that when the 

 bay is frozen over they can get in." 



" How do you catch them ? " 



" We set spring-traps of iron, but without teeth, 

 so as not to hurt the skin, near their houses, and 

 where we think they will be apt to step into them. 

 The time to catch them is from the 1st of March till 

 the 10th of April." 



" Can anybody trap them ? " 



"Oh no, sir; that wouldn't do at all; a person 

 has to own the land, or have the right to trap. The 

 land isn't worth much, though — only about a dollar 

 an acre." 



"The Indian name of muskrat is said to be 

 musksquash ? " 



"I don't know how that is; but I have heard 

 people call them so. There are a good many in the 

 marsh, and we sometimes make three or four hun- 

 dred dollars a year from them." 



" But, as the swamp fills up and the land makes, 

 won't they disappear ? " 



"No, sir; the swamp isn't filling up; but the 

 land is sinking, or the water rising — either one or 

 the other ; for the swamp is growing larger. The 

 trees on the island are being killed by the water — 

 some are dead already; and every year more high 



