see that it is impossible even for the keen eye of the sentinel goose to follow
them. Bang, bang, quoth his long gun, and the birds in dismay instantly
start, and fly towards the spot where I am. When they approach
I spring up on my feet, the geese shuffle, and instantaneously rise upright;
I touch my triggers singly, and broken-winged and dead two birds come
heavily to the ground at my feet. Oh that we had more guns ! But the
business at this pond has been transacted. We collect our game, return
to our horseSj fasten the necks of the geese and ducks together, and throwing
them across our saddles, proceed towards another pond. In this
manner we continue to shoot until the number of geese obtained would
seem to you so very large that I shall not specify it.
At another time my friend proceeds alone to the Falls of the Ohio,
and, as usual, reaches the margins of the stream long before day. His
well-trained steed plunges into the whirls of the rapid current, and, with
some difficulty, carries his bold rider to an island, where he lands drenched
and cold. The horse knows what he has to do as well as his master,
and while the former ranges about and nips the frozen herbage, the latter
carefully approaches a well-known pile of drifted wood, and conceals
himself in it. His famous dog Nep is close at his heels. Now the dull
grey dawn gives him a dim view of the geese; he fires, several fall on the
spot, and one severely wounded rises and alights in the Indian Chute.
Neptune dashes after it, but as the current is powerful, the gunner whistles
to his horse, who, with pricked ears, gallops up. He instantly vaults
into the saddle, and now see them plunge into the treacherous stream.
The wounded game is overtaken, the dog is dragged along, and at length
on the Indiana shore the horse and his rider have effected a landing. Any
other man than he of whose exploits I am the faithful recorder, would
have perished long ago. But it is not half so much for the sake of the
plunder that he undergoes all this labour and danger, as for the gratifi -
cation it affords his kind heart to distribute the game among his numerous
friends in Louisville.
On our eastern shores matters are differently managed. The gunners
there shoot geese with the prospect of pecuniary gain, and go to work in
another way. Some attract them with wooden geese, others with actual
birds; they lie in ambush for many hours at a time, and destroy an
immense number of them, by using extremely long guns ; but as there is
little sport in this sort of shooting, I shall say no more about it. Here
the Canada Goose feeds much on a species of long slender grass, the Zostera
marina, along with marine insects, Crustacea, and small shell-fish,
all of which have a tendency to destroy the agreeable flavour which their
flesh has when their food consists of fresh-water plants, corn, and grass.
They spend much of their time at some distance from the shores, become
more shy, diminish in bulk, and are much inferior as food to those which
visit the interior of the country. None of these, however, are at all to
be compared with the goslings bred in the inland districts, and procured
in September, when, in my opinion, they far surpass the renowned Canvass
backed Duck.
A curious mode of shooting the Canada Goose I have practised with
much success. I have sunk in the sand of the bars to which these birds
resort at night, a tight hogshead, to within an inch of its upper edges,
and placing myself within it at the approach of evening, have drawn over
me a quantity of brushwood, placing my gun on the sand, and covering
it in like manner with twigs and leaves. The birds would sometimes
alight very near me, and in this concealment I have killed several at a
shot; but the stratagem answers for only a few nights in the season. During
severe winters these birds are able to keep certain portions of the
deepest parts of a pond quite open and free from ice, by their continued
movements in the water ; at all events, such open spaces occasionally occur
in ponds and lakes, and are resorted to by the geese, among which
great havoc is made.
It is alleged in the State of Maine that a distinct species of Canada
Goose resides there, which is said to be much smaller than the one now
under your notice, and is described as resembling it in all other particulars.
Like the true Canada Goose, it builds a large nest, which it lines
with its own down. Sometimes it is placed on the sea-shore, at other
times by the margin of a fresh-water lake or pond. That species is distinguished
there by the name of Flight Goose, and is said to be entirely
migratory, whereas the Canada Goose is resident. But, notwithstanding
all my exertions, I did not succeed in procuring so much as a feather of
this alleged species.
While we were at Newfoundland, on our return from Labrador, on
the 15th August 1833, small flocks of the Canada Goose were already
observed flying southward. In that country their appearance is hailed
with delight, and great numbers of them are shot. They breed rather
abundantly by the lakes of the interior of that interesting country. In
the harbour of Great Macatina in Labrador, I saw a large pile of young
VOL. III. B