A MANOR HOUSE IN DEER LAND. 177 



thatt lie poachers set their larger rabbit-nets 

 at night. There is one seized from poachers 

 down at the old hall. The net is about a 

 hundred yards long and a yard or so wide, 

 made of bluish-green hemp, three threads to 

 the strand, and the mesh about two inches 

 square — just large enough for a rabbit to 

 get his head through ; a very young rabbit 

 could go right through the mesh. There is 

 an iron pin at each end to thrust in the 

 ground. The poacher having pushed the 

 iron pin in, steps a pace or two and runs a 

 stick in the ground, twists the string at the 

 upper part of the net round the top of the 

 stick, leaving the net suspended, and repeats 

 this every few steps till he comes to the iron 

 pin at the other end of the net. In this way 

 he can set the net almost as quickly as he 

 walks. 



Three are required to work it properly, 

 and the net is placed along the head of 

 a cover between nine and ten at night 

 while the rabbits are out feeding in the 



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