430 DUCK SHOOTING. 



ing us our share of birds, and at the same time a fair 

 share of misses, some of which brought with them 

 the plainly expressed disapproval of my companion. 

 The wind having increased, and the sea making 

 shooting almost impossible, we boated our decoys and 

 commenced our journey shoreward, which interesting 

 point was at least two miles away in the teeth of the 

 wind. An hour's hard work at the oars, sometimes 

 only holding our own against the fierce flaws, which 

 ever and anon, as if to show their power, would drive 

 the spray clean over the boat ; and again, as the force of 

 the flaw passed, gaining a few yards, we finally reached 

 the bar. Here, taking advantage of the first oppor- 

 tunity that the surf offered, we ran through it, and once 

 more had Jersey soil under our feet. 



WADING THE MARSHES. 



At various points all over the land — in the marshes 

 of the seaboard, of the Middle States, of Illinois, of 

 the high central plateau, and of California — is prac- 

 ticed what is perhaps the most primitive form of duck 

 shooting. Where such marshes are wet, and yet have 

 a hard bottom, the gunners wade through them, start- 

 ling the ducks from their moist feeding places and 

 shooting at them as they top the reeds in their flight. 

 The gunning is thus very much like walking up birds on 

 a stubble, or snipe on a wet meadow, but it is extremely 



