WILD-FOWLING IN DRIFT-ICE. 155 



those wlio are fortunate enough to be first on the spot with a dog- 

 and small gun, wherewith to salute them with a coup-de-grace, and 

 secure them. 



The punter should attentively mark the commencement of a thaw- 

 after a long frost, and proceed at once, on such an occasion, to the open 

 waters. It is a fine opportunity: the birds then feed upon the soft sub- 

 stances of the ooze very greedily, and may be approached, under ordi- 

 nary precautions, almost with certainty. Some of the best shots I have 

 ever made with the punt-gun have been on the first breath of a 

 morning-thaw. 



The round-bottomed punt described at p. 117 is preferable to the 

 flat-bottomed for moving amongst drift-ice ; because, by listing the 

 boat on one side slightly below her bearings, the other side rises to 

 the ice, and allows it to pass beneath the bottom ; and, if accidentally 

 hemmed in between two ice-bergs, the round-bottomed punt is far 

 the less likely of the two to be crushed. The colour of the punt, 

 diu-ing these operations, should be of the same spotless whiteness as 

 the crystallized masses of drift-ice and snow-clad shores. 



In windy weather, the jJ^mter shoidd be extremely cautious of 

 venturing among drift-ice, more especially on a lee-shore : the pimt is 

 very liable to be stove-in or seriously damaged by the hard sub- 

 stances driving against it ; and it is almost impossible to extricate a 

 punt, under ordinary circumstances, from the u'on gTasp of drift-ice, 

 when affected by wind or tide. 



Should the punter accidentally find himself beset, and there is no 

 fear of immediate danger, he must remain quiet a few hom"s, until 

 the tide turns, when he may stand a chance of getting out : and it is 

 his only chance ; for, if the ice be left on the ooze by the receding 

 tide, he must be left also ; his position then becomes by no means an 

 envious one, it being impossible to conjectm'e upon what sort of a 

 landing the punt will rest. If across a rill or hollow, such must be 

 an extremely perilous position both for the punt and its occupant 



The punter will find the same, or greater, diliicidty in retm-ning 

 home from an excursion of the kind, as that wliich he encounters 

 on setting out ; and unless he can return up the channel in advance of 

 the ice, it will be of no use to make the attempt ; he had better 

 row ashore in the open water to windward of the ice, and walk home 

 afoot, though it should be ten miles distant. 



To attempt forcing a passage through heavy drift-ice, at night, woidd 

 be next to madness : no one at all conscious of the risk would incur it. 



