330 WILDFOWL SHOOTING, 



roar of thunder, to take their departure for the open 

 sea. 



On the other hand, you and your boatman may 

 have the good fortune to open your masked battery 

 among their black columns ; and, by first cutting a 

 lane through them with a pound of the smallest duck 

 shot, and then each of you discharging a large hand- 

 gun, you may possibly secure a hundred wildfowl as 

 fast as yourselves and a dog can collect them. (As 

 a proof of what may be killed at one shot when birds 

 are wedged together, I need only say that, on the 

 9th of January last, my man James Read, when sent 

 to reconnoitre the creeks about two o'clock in the 

 morning, killed and fairly bagged 12 wigeon, 5 ducks 

 and mallards, 2! pintails, and a gray plover, with a 

 common shoulder gun, that carried only 5 ounces of 

 shot. This, however, is such a shot, with a small 

 gun, as I never heard of before, and perhaps may 

 never hear of again. There were, he thinks, about 

 30 birds in the company. They were all in a lump ; 

 and, to use his own expresssion, he " got almost o 

 board 'em before he let drive.") 



Having thus succeeded, beware not to let your 

 eagerness be the means of endangering your personal 

 safety. Many have lost their lives by both having 

 quitted the boat, which might soon drift away, arid 

 leave you " an inevitable prey to the returning tide." 

 Let one go out for the birds, taking with him the 

 setting pole, which will not only be useful in support- 



