466 nature's teachings. 



At the bottom of the illustration is* shown a portion of a 

 curious skate used in Norway, and called Skidor. 



These remarkable implements achieve by means of length 

 the task which the snow-shoe accomplishes by width. They 

 are made of wood, and, though but a few inches in width, are 

 ten feet or more in length. One is always a few feet shorter 

 than the other, for the convenience of turning. Much practice 

 is needed for the management of the Skidors, but, when they 

 are fairly mastered, they enable their owner to travel at a 

 wonderful pace. 



The Norwegian hunter is quite as dependent on his Skidor 

 as the North American on his Snow-shoe, and uses it for 

 exactly the same purpose. A corps of these hunters has been 

 organized for war, and very formidable they were, hanging on 

 the skirts of the enemy, and giving him no rest, day or night. 

 They never came within fifty yards of each other, so that even 

 cannon were useless ; and, as soon as they thought that they 

 were endangered, they dispersed in all directions, only to reunite 

 and swoop down again on the enemy at the first opportunity. 



The central figure represents the Mud-patten, which, as its 

 name implies, plays the same part towards mud that the snow- 

 shoe and skidor do to the snow. Like them, also, it is not easy 

 to manage ; and a novice is tolerably certain to drive the front 

 of the patten into the mud, and so get an awkward and not 

 aromatic fall. 



This patten, which is merely a square piece of board attached 

 to the foot, is in use on many of our coasts where the ebbing 

 tide runs out to a great distance, leaving a vast expanse of soft 

 mud. Like the skidor and the snow-shoe, it is mostly used by 

 sportsmen, especially in the winter, when wild-duck shooting 

 sets in. 



Aided by the pattens, a sportsman can travel for miles over 

 mud that would otherwise swallow him up, shoot his birds, 

 and secure them when fallen. While engaged in winter 

 shooting on the Medway, we have often lost birds because 

 they fell beyond a deep mud-bank, and we had no means of 

 crossing it. 



On the left hand of the illustration are some natural paral- 



