Bogtrotting, etc. 99 



known tracks that cross them, which it would 

 be hopeless for a stranger to attempt to 

 discover. Occasionally, however, and this is 

 the case in some of the very worst and shakiest 

 of the kind, the surface is underlaid by solid 

 ground at a depth of from i to 3 feet. I know 

 of several such, and if one is content with slow 

 progress, nothing could be safer (and more 

 filthy, it must be added) than a wade through 

 them. 



On the rare occasions in which snipe lie well 

 in these quivering bogs, great sport may be 

 had if the subsoil is of this firm nature. You 

 cannot be too deliberate : each step should 

 occupy at least half a minute, and if properly 

 managed your advance will be almost de- 

 void of noise or earth-quaking propensities. 

 Here and there will be found an apparently 

 bottomless hole ; but the vivid green of the 

 growth around it should give ample warn- 

 ing of its presence, and in any case recovery 

 from a false step is easy if the hinder foot 

 is well embedded in the ooze. If by evil 

 chance you should one day happen to sink 



