AMONG THE WILD FOWL 241 



them, as they sit floating on the rippling water, 

 which they closely resemble in colour. Their hearing, 

 too, is at least as sharp as their sight a reason for 

 not wearing substantial fishing-boots. Mr. Col- 

 quhoun's directions for stalking them are invaluable ; 

 but then it takes an expert to carry the instruc- 

 tions into practice, and an expert with the instincts 

 of an Indian. You have no friendly keeper at your 

 elbow, as in the deer-forest, to guide you passively 

 in your sinuous approaches, and whisper instructions 

 when your intelligence is at fault. To begin with, 

 you must take the bearings of the birds by con- 

 spicuous landmarks upon the shore, with others farther 

 to the inland, and then, having suppressed yourself 

 as promptly as possible, you wind round upon the 

 latter by a cautious detour. 



Akin to wild-fowling is seal-shooting the deer- 

 stalking of the seas ; and while you meet with many 

 men who will tell you they have killed seals, com- 

 paratively few have the conscience to take oath to 

 having bagged them. According to popular notions, 

 the seal is a miracle of tough vitality almost as 

 hard to kill as his amphibious congener the hippo- 

 potamus and he is said to have a provoking habit 

 of sinking to the bottom with his death-wound, vin- 

 dictively entangling his corpse in the sea-weed. We 

 incline to the belief that the notion is a fallacy, and 

 may be partly explained by indifferent shooting. 

 Experts have assured us that if you hold straight for 

 the fatal spot, the seal will float and may be gaffed 



