62 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
was rough, and we had some thirty miles to go, first along the coast 
and then up the river, and as we were delayed by having to rescue 
two Chinamen from a nearly swamped sampan, it was mid-day 
before we reached the mouth of the river. Tiffin taken on board 
and with no further delay, we arrived at our destination about 4 p.m., 
pulling up at a tangled mass of mangrove trees, about six acres in extent 
standing out of the water almost in mid-stream, and the river, even 
here, was almost a mile wide. 
“This was our shooting ground, and most uninviting it looked 
with the tide half out and the gaunt finger-like roots of the trees exposed, 
to say nothing of the stench arising from the filthy black mud which 
was becoming more and more visible every minute. But there was 
no time to waste, for the Pigeons might begin to arrive at any moment. 
The only question to settle was whether to stand in the mud and water 
near the trees, in which case one was liable to sink in deeper than 
would be pleasant, or to squat in a tiny dug-out canoe which rocked 
dangerously at the slightest move; choosing the lesser of two evils 
we each cautiously crept into a canoe—they had been ordered before- 
hand, and were waiting for us—and proceeded to take up our positions 
around the island. I can well remember my feelings as time kept 
slipping away and the sun sunk lower and lower, and the mosquitoes 
became more and more attentive, and could not help thinking the 
whole affair was going to turn out a farce, when from across the river 
I saw a small sort of cloud which increased rapidly in size and was 
evidently coming towards me. Could it be the Pigeons? A very 
few moments settled the question, for with a swish and whirl of wings 
they were down, not on us, but on the trees. Talk about a hot corner 
at a pheasant battue or partridge drive! Child’s play to this! And 
I was soon firing as fast as I could load, but alas! with poor results ; 
then a rest of a few minutes and a similar burst of fire round the other 
sides told me that my companions were hotly engaged. But there 
was no time to speak now, scarcely time to think, for on came the 
Pigeons, battalion after battalion, mass after mass, from all quarters 
of the globe; a truly marvellous sight, and one would have imagined 
that the slaughter would have been correspondingly great, and that 
one would only have to fire at one bird to bring down half a dozen— 
as is actually the case at the beginning of the season before the birds 
have been much shot at and frightened and rendered cunning, and 
