392 THE WILD-FOWLER. 



birds, the result of one wading- ; thoug-li several figures are shewn in 

 different attitudes, with the manner of approaching the fowl and 

 drawing- them under water.* 



Strachanf mentions that in Ceylon, wild-ducks and geese are caug-ht 

 in a similar manner in shallow loughs and waters ; but, instead of 

 using a gourd as a decoy, the fowler is said to cover his head with 

 an earthern pot pierced with eyelet holes : so that when he wades 

 nothing- is seen above the surface but the earthern pot which covers 

 his head. In this disguise he enters among the wild-fowl j and 

 they, mistaking the deception for a block of wood, or the like, regard 

 it with indifference, and unsuspectingly admit the fowler to move 

 amongst them, when he almost imperceptibly draws them under 

 water by their legs, and secures them in the manner before described. 



If Mr. Strachan's statement stood unconfirmed, we should be dis- 

 posed to doubt his veracity as to earthen pots being- used for this 

 purpose in the place of gourds ; but, as it is alluded to by other 

 writers, who speak of earthen pots being employed in this peculiar 

 method of wild-fowling-, we are bound to beheve it. At the same 

 time the disguise of the gourd must be by far the more enticing- ; 

 and, indeed, the very fact of the gourd, as offering food to the wild- 

 fowl, would seem to form one of the principal attractions by which 

 tlie ancient fowler was enabled to practise his artifices successfully, 

 for the Latin inscription expressly states, " Esuriens anser visse 

 involat escae." It is not improbable, however, that Mr. Strachan, 

 and others who have written upon the subject, may have overlooked 

 the fact that the earthern pot, when used instead of the gourd, is 

 made similarly enticing, by having a few grains or ears of corn, or 

 some other food, sprinkled upon or stuck about it. This assertion is 

 further confirmed by engravings of the art in works by different 

 authors of travel, where the fowl are represented as actually pecking 

 at, and in some instances perched upon, the head of the amphibious 

 fowler.J 



* There is a work bearing the same title as that from which the Latin text is taken, 

 published at Amsterdam, anno 1627 : said to be " Delineatas ab Antonio Tempesta :" 

 but many of the engravings appear to be ill-executed piracies from the valuable works 

 of art of Stradano. 



t Vide Philosophical Transactions Abridged, vol. v. : a.d. 1701. 



J Captain Thomas Williamson, in his " Oriental Field Sports," states, with refer- 

 ence to this mode of fowling — " In jeels the natives often catch wild-fowl by means 

 of large pots ; at first left to float about among the birds, which soon become recon- 

 ciled, and approach them without fear. When this eifect is produced, a shccaiTy 

 wades among the bii-ds with his head in a similar pot, and pulls them under water, 



