142 



GAME SHOAL-WATER FOWL. 



hints "to soak," as they say out here; your suc- 

 cess hereafter depends chiefly upon them. 



We probably won't scare out any very large 

 batches of ducks, as some of the other hunters 

 have come in this way before us ; but I think 

 we will have some pretty good fun for a while, 

 from the way the other boys are shooting. What 

 a rattling they keep up ! And just look at the 

 poor mallards trying to find a place to light. They 

 do hate to leave. Well, we'll take this path where 

 some one has broken a road for us. I know 

 where it leads to, and I guess we shall find a 

 few ducks there. What a squawking they do 

 keep up everywhere ! Now, you see, this mud- 

 stick or setting-pole,* as we call it, which I have 

 exchanged the oar for, comes into use? With- 

 out it we could hardly get along, or at most 

 very slowly ; for the mud is so soft you can 

 push a paddle almost its length into it, and 

 it is often harder to pull out than it was to 

 push in. By putting this on the roots of the 

 wild rice you have something solid to push 

 against, and it does not enter the mud deep 

 enough to stick much. The boat makes such a 



* Pole with a forked or widened end to prevent its sinking in mnd. 

 See c it in the chapter on " Boats'" 



