260 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
I should most decidedly say that the wild-fow! shooting is 
good enough to justify a visit. But let him not be induced 
to keep in the vicinity of settlements; rather let him and his 
attendants commence housekeeping on the margin of one of 
the northern Minnesota lakes, if in summer (remember one 
that produces an abundance of wild rice) ; butif the reverse 
season should be selected, the southern lagoons of the Mis- 
sissippi will afford him abundant sport, and any of the hos- 
pitable planters will deem it a favor if he will do them the 
honor of making their home his. 
‘When living on the-upper portion of Lake Couchachin, 
Simcoe district, from the beauty of an afternoon and the 
coolness of the weather, I was induced to shoulder my gun, 
and start cross country to Lake St. John, with the hope of 
killing some ducks to add to the fare of our already sumpt- 
uous table. I had never visited this place before, and as I 
left the clearing, the last words of H were, “ Take care 
you do not get lost.” With an amount of confidence, “ usu- 
ally denoting ignorance,” I responded that I was too old to 
be guilty of such a green proceeding. With little trouble 
I found my destination. Game was abundant and tame, 
they being overcome with that langour which makes them 
perfectly indifferent, and which is so frequently the pre- 
cursor of bad and stormy weather. In a little time my 
bag was heavy, too much so to be agreeable, and, consider- 
ing that I had committed havoc enough, I determined to 
retrace my steps. Another and yet another duck would 
come in my way, and present such fascinating shots that 
I could not resist, so that by the time I had returned to 
the place where I first struck the water I was completely 
loaded. 
Have any of my readers ever walked two or three miles, 
with from eight to a dozen mallard ducks in the skirt of his 
shooting-coat? If so,they undoubtedly have vivid recol- 
