THE CANADA GOOSE. 191 



more especially because the appearance of any other bird which I wished 

 to obtain would at once induce me to go after it, and thus frighten the game, 

 so that I rarely procured any on such occasions. But yet, as I have wit- 

 nessed the killing of many a fine Goose, I hope you will suffer me to relate 

 one or two anecdotes connected with the shooting of this kind of game. 



Reader, I am well acquainted with one of the best sportsmen now living 

 in the whole of the western country, one possessed of strength, activity, 

 courage, and patience, — qualities of great importance in a gunner. I have 

 frequently seen him mount a capital horse of speed and bottom at midnight, 

 when the mercury in the thermometer was about the freezing point, and the 

 ground was covered with snow and ice, the latter of which so encased the 

 trees that you might imagine them converted into glass. Well, off he goes at 

 a round gallop, his steed rough shod, but nobody knows whither, save myself, 

 who am always by his side. He has a wallet containing our breakfast, and 

 abundance of ammunition, together with such implements as are necessary 

 on occasions like the present. The night is pitch-dark, and dismal enough; 

 but who cares! He knows the woods as well as any Kentucky hunter, 

 and in this respect I am not much behind him. A long interval has passed, 

 and now the first glimpse of day appears in the east. We know quite well 

 where we are, and that we have travelled just twenty miles. The Barred 

 Owl alone interrupts the melancholy silence of the hour. Our horses we 

 secure, and on foot we move cautiously towards a "long pond," the feeding- 

 place of several flocks of Geese, none of which have yet arrived, although 

 the whole surface of open water is covered with Mallards, Widgeons, Pin- 

 tail Ducks, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals. My friend's gun, like 

 mine, is a long and trusty one, and the opportunity is too tempting. On all 

 fours we cautiously creep to the very edge of the pond; we now raise our- 

 selves on our knees, level our pieces, and let fly. The woods resound with 

 repeated echoes, the air is filled with Ducks of all sorts, our dogs dash into 

 the half frozen water, and in a few minutes a small heap of game lies at our 

 feet. Now, we retire, separate, and betake ourselves to different sides of the 

 pond. If I may judge of my companion's fingers by the state of my own, 

 I may feel certain that it would be difficult for him to fasten a button. 

 There we are shivering, with contracted feet and chattering teeth; but the 

 Geese are coming, and their well known cry, hauk, hank, aivhawk, awhaivk, 

 resounds through the air. Tbey wheel and wheel for awhile, but at length 

 gracefully alight on the water, and now they play and wash themselves, and 

 begin to look about for food. There must be at least twenty of them. 

 Twenty more soon arrive, and in less than half an hour we have before us a 

 flock of a hundred individuals. My experienced friend has put a snow- 

 white shirt over his apparel, and although I am greatly intent on observing 



