BRITISH SPORT PAST AND PRESENT 



punts as unsafe, and his opinion having been confirmed by 

 fataUties, ' these regular western channel gunners ' adopted 

 an entirely new mode of getting at the birds : — 



' They start off, generally in the afternoon (provided the 

 tide serves, so as to be low enough at the proper time), keep- 

 ing as close as possible to the shore, and going before the wind, 

 till they arrive at the leeward end of their beat ; the whole 

 track of which, for one night's work, may be about five or 

 six miles. They go ashore, and either get into a pot-house, 

 if they have a sixpence to spend (which is not always the 

 case), or lounge about the shore till day-light disappears, and 

 the birds begin to fly ; having first put all " in order " ; that is, 

 to draw out their mould shot, which they generally have in, 

 for the chance of a goose " going down along " ; put in smaller 

 shot ; and regulate their gun so that it will bear about eighty 

 yards, when the punt is on dry mud. No sooner are the 

 widgeon pitched than off they set, in tarpaulin dresses ; and 

 looking more like chimney-sweepers than gunners, crawling 

 on their knees, and shoving this punt before them on the mud. 

 No matter whether light or dark, few birds or many, bang! 

 goes the gun ; — and no sooner have they picked up what few 

 birds are readily to be found, or missed the fowl, which they 

 very frequently do, as the punt, by even a few periwinkles, 

 might be thrown off the line of aim, they proceed again ; thus 

 travelling all night (by " laimching " over the mud, and row- 

 ing across the creeks) in a direct line, similar to the march of 

 an army of coots. I should not omit to mention, that, as the 

 birds will seldom allow them to get into the punt to fire, some 

 of them draw the trigger with a string at the end of the ram- 

 rod, and others creep up on one side, and pull it off with the 

 finger. This is perhaps the most laborious, and the most 

 filthy work in all the department of wildfowl shooting ; and 

 not only that, but it so ruins the country, that in a very short 

 time it entirely " breaks the haunt of the birds," without 

 having yielded any material advantage to those who adopt 

 the system. As some corroboration of this, I need only 



114 



