140 SHOOTING. 



when there is a storm from the east or north-east, with a heavy sea 

 breaking on the shore, the wild-fowl may be shot, even on the 

 main laud, in considerable quantities, by artfully conceahng oneself 

 along the beach. We have seen the storms have so bewildermgau j 

 effect, even on thesehardy birds, that they seemed quite stupid, and 1 

 would have come witliin twenty yards of our gims, even in day- ■ 

 light. Heavy guns for boat-fishing are not used in this district, , 

 solely from the cause that the sea runs so wHd and stonny, even ia i 

 tolerable weather, through the various channels which divide 

 this singular group of barren rocks from each other. 



Lake and Fond Shooting has likewise a pecuHar character, and 

 can only be followed in particular sections of the kingdom. These 

 are chiefly the fenny districts of Lincolnshu-e and Cambridgeshire, 

 where the various kind of wild ducks breed among the reeds and 

 long grass in the boggy grounds ; here the young are hatched, and 

 obtain, in the month of August, the name o^ flappers, and the shoot- 

 ing of them then commences, and is found to be excellent sport. 

 This kind of shooting is altogether different from that which is 

 practised on the coast, where the bii-ds only come to feed at parti- 

 cular seasons, and where they never breed.' These fens, or snares, 

 or broads, are somethnes amazingly stocked with birds of aU kinds ; 

 and great numbers are shot, or taken in traps and nets, and sent to 

 the London market. 



A gun oi fifty pounds weight is found to be the most eligible. The 

 old heavy pieces of seventy and eighty pounds rendered the punt (' 

 immovable when fouled on grass and wdnkles, which are shells =; 

 strewed over the oozes in comitless myriads. The sportsman in li 

 such a punt rows with his back to the gun, until he sees the fowl, ,1 

 when he turns on his face, and works himself along with a kind of l! 

 prong, weighted to catch the ground. "When there is so much li 

 water that the shoving-pole cannot readily reach the ground, two )i 

 paddles are made use of to push the fowler forward. Having '' 

 given these general directions, we must refer the reader to Colonel I, 

 Hawker's work for further information, as to mud pattens, mud 

 boards, and to several modifications of the launching punt, the 

 launching sledge, the Sussex mud-boat, and the Poole canoe ; all 

 devices and instruments to facilitate the capture of the wild fowl 

 in the creeks and oozes of this part of the British coast. 



Before parting from this branch of our subject, we must quote a 

 few sentences respecting a scheme the Colonel calls an island: 

 "The plan I adopted a few seasons ago was to make an island m 

 the middle of the ooze, where I was sure of the first shot, unless 

 any one was there whose punt di'ew less water than mine, which 

 happened not to be the case. The way to make an island that will 

 stand the overwhelming south-westers is this : Go at low water, 

 and drive strong poles, from nine to twelve feet long, into the mud, 

 at about the interval usual for hedge stakes, till they stand no 

 more than two or three feet in height, then make a hedge to inclose 

 as much space as you may wish your gun to sweep ; fill in your 



