loo A Book of the Snipe. 



too deep for extrication, unload or fire off 

 your gun at once, and plant it flat on the 

 mud In front of you, holding it by the ex- 

 tremities of the barrels and stock. Thus 

 supported you could keep your head above 

 ground all day if necessary, though I sin- 

 cerely hope that the necessity will never 

 arise. Do not struggle when you find your- 

 self beyond your own aid ; it will only sink 

 you deeper, and exhaust your strength. 



Many a gloomy tale have some of the 

 Irish "gossoons" about dreadful disappear- 

 ances of this kind, but as a matter of fact 

 it is one of the rarest accidents In the world, 

 and certainly does not happen to a man more 

 than once in fifty years, though cattle are con- 

 stantly engulfed, owing to their shape not 

 lending itself to recovery. One of the odd- 

 est occurrences that ever came to my know- 

 ledge in this connection was the loss of a 

 valuable horse In a tiny patch of bottomless 

 bog, actually of less superficial area than 

 the animal Itself. The body of the poor 

 brute was never recovered, but it was ascer- 



