WEATHER AND EXPENSES 235 



mast and sail, etc., from ;^30 to ^50; B.L. gun, suitable 

 size for double punt, complete with recoil apparatus, etc., 

 by good maker, from /80 to ;^ioo ; wooden punt-house (do 

 not build, for this purpose, of corrugated iron), from £20 

 to ;^3o; extras, ^15; punt-carriage, ^5. A punt-wagon is 

 not included in this estimate. These figures might be exceeded 

 if a very large or a double gun was bought, and a punt built 

 to certain "fads" regardless of ahy stipulated price. A new 

 good-class single-handed outfit should run 40 to 50 per cent 

 less than that given for double-handed. 



We now suggest for the man of moderate means. A good 

 second-hand outfit can often be picked up for very much less 

 than first cost. If a whole outfit cannot be bought, a gun 

 from one quarter, and other gear from another, and so on, 

 can generally be purchased, if properly advertised for. 

 Following are about the figures one can often buy at : — A 

 £^0 gun (carefully used ten years) for £2% ; a punt costing 

 £\o (used, say, six years) for ;^i5 ; a punt-house, ;^io (with 

 carriage paid) ; a second-hand punt-carriage, £Ty los. ; extras, 

 ;;^io. This totals below £^^ — a considerable difference to first 

 cost, which, probably, would be nearly twice as much. 



We have up to the present been speaking of first-class 

 gear. Now we turn to outfits of punts of amateur manufacture 

 and old muzzle-loading guns. These outfits, nowadays, run 

 from ;^io to ;^20, complete with all gear, ammunition box, 

 tools, etc. If a punt is only used in the locality in which one 

 resides, a punt-house can be dispensed with, as long as the 

 gun and ammunition can be stored under cover. This is the 

 cheapest form of punt-shooting, except that carried on by 

 professional wildfowl shooters. Some of these chaps have 

 good old weapons ; others have dangerous ones. They are 

 single-handed, except in a very few cases, where two of them 

 join in a larger punt and share the spoil. Prices of their 

 complete rig (single) vary. The usual figures lie between 



