CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 22/ 



soon as one piece of fishing ground got played out, 

 this man and his son would hoist sail again and 

 start for another, on arrival, take down sail and 

 begin fishing again. I was beginning to get a bit 

 sick over the whole business, when about 2 p.m., or 

 thereabouts, the man suggested that perhaps now, 

 we miofht beofin to look for some Ducks. 



The wind, meantime, had freshened considerably, 

 but nothing daunted, the old fisherman started off 

 in his cockle-shell of a punt — for it was nothing 

 better — and hoisting the tiniest of sails which he 

 held in his hand, began to explore all the sand-banks 

 that were gradually becoming more and more 

 exposed to the receding tide ; but every feathered 

 creature, whether Goose or Duck, was so fearfully 

 wild, as not to give even the remotest chance for a 

 shot ; in fact, as soon as the little white sail became 

 visible around any point, up would get flocks of 

 Brent Geese, Mallards, etc., at distances ranging 

 from a half to three quarters of a mile. 



From the smack I could see all that was oroino- on, 

 and in an hour or two's time, seeing how futile the 

 whole thing was, decided upon making our way 

 homewards again ; so the punt was called in, and 

 we made tracks back, employing ourselves with 

 catching more shrimps and boiling the whole lot 

 before we reached Fosdyke, which we did sometime 

 in the evening. 



On going ashore, I think the fisherman quite 

 imagined that I should be satisfied with my outlay 

 of upwards of a guinea by his proffering for my 



