WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 99 



to put on splashers* and proceed over the ooze in pursuit of the 

 wounded, and to gather up the dead birds, the result of his charge. 

 A winged bird on the ooze generally gives fine chase, and a man 

 must be careful not to fall, or the consequences may be serious : — 

 not simply a roll in the mud, but a chance as to being able to get 

 upon the legs again, on so soft and slimy a foundation. The only prac- 

 ticable method of getting up from a fall on the ooze, is by rolling 

 over, on the back, so as to draw the arms out of the mud ; and then 

 by placing one foot, with the splasher, firmly and flatly on the ooze, 

 at the same time pressing both hands on the knee of the leg so raised, 

 and giving a cautious but determined spring, a man may succeed in 

 bringing himself again to his legs. But it is useless to attempt getting 

 up by resting the hands on the mud, as one would do on hard ground : 

 the arms only sink deeper and deeper ; and if the mud be very rotten, 

 the fallen individual finds it impossible to rise in that manner ; and by 

 kneeling it would be just as diificidt. Care shoidd be taken not to 

 fall ; for the least that can result from it is, a thorough wetting-, and 

 an unpleasant bedaubing with mud, to say nothing of the risk of not 

 being- able to get up at all ; as in some oozy beds with which I am 

 famihar, the mud is so soft and deep, that I believe it impossible 

 for any man on falling- to rise again without assistance. 



The stalking-horse was also another means employed by the " an- 

 cient gunner" for approaching wild-geese on the open moors : 



" One undei-neath his horse, to get a shoot, doth stalk ; 

 Another over dykes upon his stilts doth walk,"f 



The system was nothing more than making use of a horse simply 

 as a screen, by leading or driving it leisurely towards the birds j 

 when, if both horse and gunner performed tlieir part judiciously, they 

 got within range ; the geese taking no notice of the animal, when 

 apparently unaccompanied by any human being. It is a well-known 

 fact, that wild-geese are never intimidated by the presence of horses 

 and cattle ; the birds are often seen feeding within a few yards of 

 the animals, on open moors. 



The stalking-horse was sometimes partly covered with a rug- or 

 cloth, extending well down below the hocks j the better to protect the 



* Thin hoards, about 18 inches square, lashed under the soles of the boots, for 

 the purpose of protecting a man from sinking into the mud when walking on the 

 ooze. They are also sometimes made in a similar manner to the suow shoes used in 

 Northern nations. 



t Drayton. 



