January, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
ANOTHER lONG GUN 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
WAS much interested in the descrip- 
tion and illustration of Bennett’s long 
gun in the October number of Forest 
and Stream. 
It is certainly a long one, but I know 
of a longer, in the collection of Mr. W. 
Barrett, of Toorak, Melbourne, Aus- 
tralia, who gave me permission to exam- 
ine and take particulars of all his arms. 
The gun in question is a percussion lock, 
single barrel muzzleloader of English 
make, 14 gauge, and the barrel, which I 
measured myself, is 5 feet 11% inches, or 
3% inches longer than the barrel of Mr. 
Bennett’s gun. 
The longest shotgun that I know of 
is in the Melbourne Public Museum. It 
is a percussion lock, muzzleloading 
swivel gun which was confiscated as of 
illegal dimensions by the Victorian police 
and turned over to the museum authors 
ties by the Fisheries and Game Depart- 
ment. It is 1% inches in the bore and 
the length of the barrel is 10 feet 6 
inches. Its load was four ounces of 
powder and 2 lbs of shot. Its record kill 
is 56 brace of ducks at one shot! It is 
not surprising that the use of such 
guns is forbidden by law in Australia. 
It is a curious thing, but it is a fact 
that in the days when their use was al- 
lowed, several men preferred the flint to 
the percussion lock for these guns and 
I know of one old punt gunner on the 
Cambridgeshire fens in England, who 
was still using a flintlock swivel gun 
not many years ago. I was also told of 
a man in Melbourne who had his percus- 
sion lock swivel gun converted to a 
flintlock, saying that the burst of flame 
and smoke from the priming in the pan 
made the birds rise from the water 
and the interval between it and the ex- 
plosion of the charge in the barrel was 
long enough to get their wings well 
opened by the time the shot reached 
them. 
Henry Walter Fry, New York. 
DUCKS AND GULLS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
I HAVE a question in mind which has 
puzzled me a good deal since my re- 
turn from a short duck hunting trip 
with some friends a few weeks ago: Are 
ducks afraid of gulls? 
While out on this trip I observed large 
flocks of Blue Bills get up and leave the 
water when gulls would come near. When 
I put the question up to one who has had 
a great many more years experience 
duck hunting than I have, he replied 
that the gulls had nothing to do with it 
but something else must have frightened 
the ducks. However, the next day I was 
out alone and had a similar experience. 
I came across a fine bunch of Mallards 
and Teal feeding on a small lake near 
the cabin where we were staying and 
try as I would, I could not get within 
range of those ducks. Finally I secured 
a pqsition high on a bank overlooking 
their location, but not near enough to be 
sure of ipy game. As it happened there 
was a big pine tree at the foot of the 
bank on which I was watching, but to 
get to it would bring me within plain 
sight of the ducks. While pondering 
how I could possibly reach the tree, what 
was my surprise to see every duck get 
up and leave the water. Of course I 
thought they had seen me and I was 
wondering how it had happened when 
I looked up and saw a gull sailing leis- 
urely over the spot where the ducks had 
been. You may be sure, I lost no time 
in sliding down the bank and taking up 
my place behind the big pine, my cal- 
culations being, after what I had wit- 
nessed the day before, that the bunch 
would soon be back again, which I am 
pleased to say, proved to be the case, 
with a benefit to me of one fine Mallard 
drake and a little Green-winged Teal. 
On my return to the cabin I again 
put the question up to another one of 
the old duck hunters and he agreed with 
the first one, that something else must 
have frightened the ducks. 
Now that is my experience and I 
would like to know, as one of your con- 
stant readers, if in your opinion, my con- 
tention that the gulls frightened the 
ducks is correct? If not would you say 
that they had caught sight of me, and 
if so, would they come back so soon? 
As a matter of fact, they were back as 
soon as the gull had passed on. 
F. D. Harlow, Minn. 
An answer to this letter will be pub- 
lished in the February number. In the 
meantime we would welcome other letters 
on this subject from sportsmen who have 
had a similar experience. 
We are always glad to receive letters 
from our readers on subjects of general 
interest to sportsmen and especially glad 
to hear from those who have noticed un- 
usual happenings in the world of nature. 
Sometimes the most obvious actions of 
our wild friends have never been noted 
and it is always interesting to get inter- 
3a 
pretations of them from different ob- 
servers. — [Editors.] . 
CANOE SAIL 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
W ILL you kindly advise me what 
would be the proper area of sail 
for a canoe of the following dimensions 
Length 15 feet, beam thirty-two inches, 
depth forward twenty-three inches, depth 
amidship twelve inches ; approximate 
weight 64 lbs.? 
Voyle D. Ott, Wisconsin. 
For your information, we will quote 
the rule applying to this matter which 
is taken from the American Canoe As- 
sociation Year Book. It is standard with 
the yachting ntles as a basis for calcu- 
lation. 
“Sec. 4. Sail Area. Basis for calcu- 
lation. Length, 16 feet; beam, 30 inches; 
sail area, 40 square feet. For each inch 
the beam is increased the sail area may 
be increased 2 square feet. For each 
inch the length is increased, the sail area 
must be decreased one-sixth of a square 
foot. Note: This applies to all wood 
canoes.” 
“Sec. 5. Sail Area, Canvas-Covered 
Canoes. When a canoe is covered with 
canvas, the sail area may be increased 
7% percent. Note: This added percent- 
age is added because 'qll wood canoes are 
considered faster in competition with 
canvas-covered canoes.” 
Your canoe will take the minimum of a 
16-foot canoe or 40 square feet with the 
privilege of adding 4 square feet for the 
two additional inches of beam over 30 
inches, and if canvas, an additional 7% 
per cent of 44 square feet or a total of 
47.3 square feet. Note: A larger area 
may be used, but your canoe would not 
travel any faster than it wo^ild with that 
specified above and very likely not as 
fast on all winds and most certainly 
ivould not be as safe . — [Editors.] 
The Prince of Wales in the wilds of Ontario with two of his Indian guides 
