314 LAUNCHING 



the stern, and the recoil of the gun is received entirely 

 by a \meejixed only to the bottom plank (instead of 

 a cross piece), which is far safer, and decidedly less 

 likely to tear away the sides of the punt. The 

 bottom is now made of one elm plank, an inch and a 

 quarter thick, to which this knee is fixed by bolts 

 and screws ; and, consequently, as there is no recoil 

 on the sides of the punt, every part, but this plank, 

 is made as light as possible. 



As a proof of my former argument against the 

 safety of the Hampshire punts, I need only observe, 

 that, since my second edition, three men (Vincent, 

 Jones, and Tanner) were drowned, and another 

 (Harnet) was killed, by his gun. These regular 

 western channel gunners are now, therefore, become 

 very shy of shooting afloat, for which (by having 

 punts that are so crank, and draw so much water, 

 and guns proportionally so short in the barrel) they 

 have always been the worst equipped of any " big 

 gunners" (as they call themselves) on the British 

 coast. 



They have, of late years, therefore, adopted an 

 entirely new mode of getting at the birds, for which 

 that vast track of ooze near Lymington is better 

 calculated than perhaps any other mud in the world. 



They start off, generally in the afternoon (provided 

 the tide serves, so as to be low enough at the proper 

 time), keeping 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 



