AMONG THE WILD GEESE 339 



noon, therefore, I travelled down to the out-of-the-world 

 corner whereat were established my fowling-quarters, 

 more to "prospect" than in any great hopes of doing' 

 much so early in the season. On arrival, the reports 

 of fowl were satisfactory : several hundreds of geese had 

 appeared within the last few days, and the evening was 

 spent in discussions piscatorial and aucipial. 



The object of the expedition being chiefly the geese, 

 which would then be snugly roosting on the rolling waves 

 a mile or two outside the bar, nothing could be done that 

 night or until the tide commenced to flow about six in the 

 morning. At that hour the morning proved fine ; the 

 moon, only a few days past the full, shone brightly in 

 the western heavens, and by her light we could dimly 

 discern the desolate features of the estuary, extending far 

 away inland, a dreary succession of dusky sand-banks and 

 oozes, backed by the snowy outline of distant hills. The 

 tide being now low, we had to launch the punt over some 

 two hundred yards of sand and shingle- — no easy matter 

 with a craft some twenty-two feet long and so heavy as to 

 require the full strength of my puntsman and myself to lift 

 her on to the launching-carriage. Moreover, the sand was 

 soft, and the wheels sank in places up to the axles, while 

 ever and anon they ran against a half-hidden boulder. 

 The morning, however, was intensely cold- — snow lying a 

 foot deep down to high-water mark' — so the hard work 

 was not unwelcome, for it set the blood tingling through 

 our veins. There is a certain weirdness about these 

 dark hours just before dawn which is peculiarly im- 

 pressive on the coast ; the wind moans with melancholy 

 cadence, there are dreary periods while clouds cross the 

 moon, and the measured murmur of the dark wavelets 

 on the shore has an eerie monotony. Of all Nature's 



