NEAR HOGANaS. 211 



however, considerably, owing, probably in degree, to the 

 state of the wind ; for, some years Cocks are pretty plen- 

 trful, whilst in others comparatively few are met with. 

 But even in the autumn some of my friends have been 

 rather successful ; amongst the rest "The Old Bushman," 

 who, in a letter to me, says : — 



" The autumn of 1849 I spent at Hoganjis, near the 

 town of Helsingborg. Towards the end of October a 

 strong south-westerly gale set in, and our little harbour 

 was filled with sloops weather-bound. On the 27th 

 October two captains came down to me and asked me 

 to go out shooting. We left at nine in the morning, 

 and the whole of the day up to dinner-time "was spent 

 in drinking finhel (potato-brandy) with the farmers, and 

 shooting Fieldfares and the like. About three o'clock 

 in the afternoon, when on our road home, we came to 

 a patch of oak scrub, probably about one hundred acres 

 in extent, covered with stumps of trees that had been 

 felled, and from which young shoots had grown up, form- 

 ing bushes, as it were, to the height of two or three feet. 

 The underwood was perfectly dry. As I was getting over 

 the fence, a couple of Woodcocks rose at my feet. I sliot 

 right and left, and bagged one. I beat the place without 

 a dog, and in about two hours bagged seventeen Wood- 

 cocks, one Hare, and one Black-Coek, out of about twenty- 

 eight sliots. The shooting was beautiful. I liad several 

 right-and-left shots, and I feel confident I flushed above 

 one hundred couple of Cocks. I knocked off at last for 

 want of ammunition ; otherwise, I am sure I could have 

 had fifty shots. The plantation was about three English 

 miles from the sea-coast. I went there the next morning ; 

 but the wind had chopped round to the eastward, and I 

 do not think five couple of Cocks w'ere left. I do not 

 recollect the state of the moon, but the weather was vei-y 

 fine, with strong gales." 



p 2 



