IN AXJDUBON'S LABRADOR 



Almost every compartment was occupied, and 

 as we walked along the shore, a long line of 

 Ducks flew out, one after the other. The sur- 

 face of the water also was perfectly white with 

 Drakes, who welcomed their brown wives with 

 loud and clamorous cooing. The house itself 

 was a marvel. The earthen walls that sur- 

 rounded it and the window embrasures were 

 occupied by Ducks. On the ground the house 

 was fringed with Ducks. On the turf slopes of 

 its roof we could see Ducks, and a Duck sat 

 on the door-scraper. The grassy banks had 

 been cut into square patches, about eighteen 

 inches having been removed, and each hollow 

 had been filled with Ducks. A windmill was 

 infested, and so were all the outhouses, mounds, 

 rocks, and crevices. The Ducks were every- 

 where. Many were so tame that we could 

 stroke them on their nests, and the good lady 

 told us that there was scarcely a Duck on the 

 island that would not allow her to take its 

 eggs without flight or fear. Our hostess told 

 us that when she first became possessor of the 

 island the produce of down from the Ducks 

 was not more than fifteen pounds in a year, 

 but that under her careful nurture of twenty 



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