1875 . 
1 © 
heads, or support it with stout sticks between two or 
mure of them. Their gait would excite surprise, sinee 
it is cautions /and rather shovelling, arising from the 
necessity to avoid the poisonous Rayas, a fish very com- 
mon to these waters. Our northern Ray fish furnishes 
the corresponding genus to these much dreaded 
denizens of the Amazon. They will lay perfectly 
fiat and motionless on the muddy shallow bottom of 
the river, and never stir unless trodden upon, when 
they raise their lone projecting posterior spine, which 
is armed svith a barbed sting of an inch in length, and 
inflict a wound, which is seldom curable. I have never 
been able to ascertain if these barbs contain in them- 
selves an acrid secretion, or produce simply an irritating 
sore on the part affected; but am inclined to the latter 
suggestion, since all sores contracted on feet or legs are 
extremely dangerous in tropical climates. It seems as 
if these waters fairly teem with millions of vegetable 
spores and microscopic auiraalcul*, which find their 
way readily through the slight whirl of suction near 
any wound into the injured part, to be absorbed by the 
lymphatics and capillaries. They finally obtain access 
into the general cii-culation, whence they cannot be 
eliminated, and become fatal. I am in possession of 
authentic information where persons, after suffering 
from terribly inflamed feet, produced by the sting of the 
Raya, grew worse, until death relieved their sufferings. 
Since I had never<practiced the peculiar mode of step- 
ping in the water, calculated to remove the Raya with- 
out placing the foot riglit upon its back, I always 
ado|)tei the precaution to let my dusky companions 
walk ahead of me, consoling myself with the reflection of 
the superior value of my own precious self, which I felt, 
of course, assured as overbalalancing at any time that 
of my half civilized guides. A photograph would have 
furnished the explanation better than these ambiguous 
words of mine, which can only’ inadequately describe 
the half solemn, half ludicrous looking procession 
treading its way slowly and cautiously from the vessel 
to the shore. 
We rest after the fatiguing march on an old log of at 
least five feet in diameter, stranded perhaps in its long 
journey' from its primitive forests of the upper Amazon, 
to its terminus, a projecting mud bank near its mouth. 
The punctilious decorum practiced in Brazil, suggests to 
me the propriety not to present myself in person with 
all of my introductory implements to the good graces of 
this Paraena nabob, but to await with becoming dignity 
his pleasure. Thus I requested my attendants to deliver 
my letters, carte de visite, etc., and survey while wailing 
for the result, from my wide seat, my immediate sur- 
roundings. My susDense was short, as I discovered 
very soon quite a cortege of servants, family members 
etc., headed by the Director himself, coming towards 
the beach. His greeting was extremely cordial, to 
judge by gestures,' as language was merely supplemen- 
tary, since he prided himself on his broken English, 
which corresponded to my own broken Portuguese, a 
mixture which became blended at last into homogeneous 
harmony through my boy, who spoke the dialect used 
here like a native. I perceived quickly that my strat- 
egy and letters had been -wonderfully successful, as I 
found myself received with a courtesy and cordial 
kindness, such as would have never been accorded to a 
stranger in our cold and polite north. No pains were 
spared to make my stay pleasdnt, and conveniently the 
spacious, airy, and cool verandah of the fine brick resi- 
dence of my host was unreservedly placed at my entire 
disposal, along with a delicious cool sleeping apartment. 
The retainers of the plantation, red, black, and while, 
■were at once summoned in order to sift out from be- 
tween them the most efficient guides and hunters, thus 
raising m}’ hopes for good stable success to the highest 
pitch. Theladiestof the house proved themselves 
hardly less voluble than the doctor, only with the dif- 
ference, that with them Portuguese predominated, the 
meaning of which I could, when spoken quickly, but 
fairly guess at, and allowed me, of course, a vast field of 
conjecture. Stray milestones of gesticulation implied 
however, on the thhin,- equally cordial feelings with 
those expressed already by the doctor himself, and thus 
1 became settled down. 
The house itself was a fair sample of a residence of 
the wealthier classes of this Province. Sides and roof 
were built of solid bricks and tiles, the floor was cov- 
ered with close laid planks of some hard wood growir^ 
iu.he forests, the name of which I have forgotten. 
Such wood would last a life lime in the north, here it 
may not cover floors or form rafters and beams longer 
than a year before it is channelled in every direction by 
immen.se swarms offl'the industrious and destructive 
eupim ant, one of the worst pests of this country, wheie 
the choice of annoying destroying insects is so liberal. 
Sometimes good and substantial looking houses are ren- 
dered, through this uiidermiuing process, untenable. 
I saw at least half a dozen of these while in Para. The 
verandah which had been reserved for my own accom- 
dation was here a sort of an addition to the main build- 
ing, it was covered with a tiled roof, and well aired by 
a large number of windows as close together as the 
safety of the walls would admit. The corps of ser- 
vants was here very numerous, owing to the still extant 
state of slavery, which gave the doctor a working force 
of overjfiO good and useful people on this one sitio 
alone. (Some of these, distinguished by a neat appear- 
ance, Jhad been advanced to become members of the 
staff of house servants, others of less prepossessing looks 
helped to make up the necessary numbeis of rancheros 
i.e. , people whose duty consists in the herding ef the 
half wild cattle whicu roams allover^the Island, where- 
ever savannahs or campos afford pasturage. Since 
these people raise no vegetatablee of any kind, not even 
farinha, their diet is strictly animal varied occasionally 
with a mess of fish, which are caught by means of nets 
in great numbers, and often of great size It is 
interesting to observe how sueh a diet affects their 
general looks, as tropical inhabitants in general subsist 
on vegetables. Pure meat agrees here well with these 
half-breeds, Indians and negroes. They show greater 
determination in their actions, increased bodily ac- 
tivity, which displays itself in their great love for hunt- 
ing and lassoing of cattle, which pastime becomes at 
times dangerous sport. Although slaves, they are far 
from manifesting traits of submissiveness or cringing 
cowardice; by their independent bearing, general talk, 
ready repartee and general reekless demeanor I eould 
hardly reason my'self into conviction that I had to deal 
with the so often harped-upon down-trodden slave. I 
remember still well, how one of these meek people drew 
in a fit of drunkenness a longtnife, and made a lunge 
at the boy in my employ', an intrepid lad, who came 
within an inch of returning the compliment by shooting 
him through the body. This, however, was an excep- 
tion; on the main, though free and bold, they were po- 
lite and faithful to me, and I had no fear to sally out 
with them miles away from the house. They are other- 
wise rather low in stature, more muscular than fleshy, 
by which I mean puffed, and have exceptionally bad 
teeth; a singular physiological defect in an African, 
which have these bones by hereditary transmission so 
firm and pure white. An ox or two is slaughtered here 
every day in the year; the choice pieces are preserved 
for the manor, while all of the tough pieees, heart, liver 
and lungs, go into the iron kettles of these half-wild 
raneheros. The slow- winged, repulsive and disgust- 
ingly tame Uritbus, alias turkey buzzard, help them- 
selves to the rest of the entrails, head, etc. The hoofs 
are roughly knocked* off, since the feet, when well 
boiled are, alon^ with the brains, considered the gieat- 
est delicaeies of the ox. The beef is such as we have to 
expect in the tropics, tough, stringy, and -without flavor. 
(to be continued.) 
0i\ TIIE*ICE. 
BY ROYAL. 
One morning early in April, I fad a visit from Nival 
Barrette, my trusty canoe-man, who informed me the 
blue-bills and red-heads were in, and that he and his son 
were starting for the ground that afternoon. As I was 
not very busy I agreed to follow them next day. To 
send home and order my provision basket to be packed 
and my shooting toggery to be looked over, -w'as the 
next move. For the benefit of beginners who may' have 
to put np in places where supplies are difficult to get, I 
will give a description of the basket. Imagine the lar- 
gest possible size of market basket about three feet long 
and eighteen inches deep, with covers at each side the 
handle ; contents usually a ham, and piece of roast beef 
ready cooked, a couple of pounds of fresl*butter; seve- 
eral pots essence of coffee, tea, sugar ; a spirit lamp to 
boil the morning coffee ; a few bottles of milk punch, 
tin plates, cups, knives and forks, and bread enough to 
fill up. As the exposure on the ice is very severe, we 
wear long moccasins, coming to the crotch, ivith 
three pairs of socks, and on our bodies woolen knitted 
jackets, then a buckskin jacket under a loose double- 
breasted shooting coat ; over all a white smock, canvas. 
Barrette had told me where to find an Indian w'ho 
would drive me to the spot we were to shoot over, and 
at dusk on the appointed day, I found myself at “ Ber- 
nard’s” house in the foot of the Big Bay. I found I 
had lost nothing by my delay, as it had rained all day, 
and the two B.’s had not shot at all. We slept on the 
floor alongside the stove that night, and while the moon 
was still shining brightly started for our decoy. About 
half-way up the bay the mild weather had opened a 
channel perhaps two hundred yards wide in the ice, and 
we well knew, as the wind was heavy off shore, we 
might expect the ducks to come well in to our decoys. 
In a few moments we had our blind opened out, a little 
work with the axe and boat hook furnished us with 
loose ice to mask the front of our screen. By the way, 
our screen deserves description. It is three pieces of 
very light wood, painted white; about three feet long by 
two high, with hinges of leather so that it can be folded 
up and easier carried. We formerly used to make our 
blinds of ice. but experience taught us that when the 
sun is strong the ice is too transparent, and the ducks 
see our shadows through the ice. Now we just clap 
the screen on the edge of the ice bordering an eddy and 
mask it with floating ice; or cut what is necessary in a 
few minutes. Our decoys, dead birds on floats, were 
soon on the water, and half a dozen live half-breed 
ducks exactly resembling the black duck tied by the leg 
on the ice, with a little corn to feed on, were strutting' 
about in easy gun shot to one side of us. Old Barrette 
then left Alphonse and myseJf in the blind and crossed 
to the other side the channel, hauled his canoe (painted 
white) on to the ice at a point near which ^he cur- 
rent wonld drift any birds we might shoot, and then 
quietly laid down in the bottom of the canoe. Just as 
it w’as getting daylight, two black ducks came and 
pitched right among the decoys; waiting till they put 
their heads together, I quietly bagged them with my 
first barrel. Soon a whistler comes up the channel, sees 
the decoys, turns to them, but is suspicious, but gives 
an easy cross-shot and is bagged. Now a plump of four 
or five blue-bills come up but will not light; however, 
we take toll to extent of three out of their number. 
Again some light, and each shooting the birds to his 
side of the blind, fair work is done. 
All of a sudden four geese are seen flying low along 
the edge of the ice, following its curves and coming 
straight to us. An instant sufficed to extract the No. 4 
cartridges from my gun and substitute B. B., just in 
time, though, for when I closed the breech of my gun 
they were within 30 yards. Alphonse and I fired to- 
gether, eaeh killing one with our first barrels, missing 
our seeonds; no exeuse except over eagerness. By this 
time we had upwards of a dozen duck and the two 
geese ; the old man thought the boy had enjoyed him- 
self enough and crossing over to us, sent Alphonse to 
do the picking up. Now the fun began in earnest ; the 
day -was bright and clear and the ducks not inclined to 
light, but no matter how they passed. Barrette took toll 
out of them every time. He is considered the best shot 
at ducks we have in Lower Canada, and with his big 
ten bore, eentral fire, heavy eharges of powder, and mar- 
velous steadiness it is a bad day for ducks when he is 
on the war path. Of course when ducks came in pairs, 
or small flocks, we each shot to our own side, and I did 
my share of the work; all single birds were left to me, 
i. e., the old man not firing unless I missed both bar- 
rels, which I seldom did. About 11 o’clock the ducks 
ceased to fly, and we moved our ground, putting our 
canoe with the deeoys and all our impedimenta into a 
small hand sleigh and drawing it over the ice. In this 
way we got overground (icg?) very much more rapidly 
than if we attempted to paddle against current. We 
did not find a good place again till late in the day when 
we did some shooting at very long ranges, picking up 
only about half a dozen birds. In all our bag for the 
day were about 44 ducks and 2 geese, ducks principally 
blue-bills, a few whistlers, one or^two red-heads and half 
a dozen black ducks. 
Next day we did equally well and bagged somewhere 
near a century of ducks in two days and an hour of the 
third morning, getting back to Montreal by 9 a. m; of 
the third day here ; fair work for the proximity lo a 
laigetown. The previous 3 'ear, Barrette killed to his 
own gun 145 ducks in two days at foot of Lachine Rap- 
ids, each day getting out of ammunition comparatively 
early in the day. Such is our spring duck shooting ; 
many call it tame ; perhaps it ia, but ' mejudice” it is 
good fuir, especi-:llj' when one stumbles on a hot half- 
hour’s -work. On one occasion during the past autumn 
the writer bagged 25 ducks inside of fifteen minutes to 
bis own guns, a d 64 in a morning ; that was late in 
November, however, and over decoys in a storm. The 
ice this spring is unusually thick and strong and although 
some liucks are now in, we do not anticipate much sport 
for ten days or a fortnight yet. 
