WITH A STANCHION GUN. 367 



pond, they are % a fine prey for a swivel gun ; pro- 

 vided you hide the flash ; get their heads up hefore 

 you shoot; and are well armed with little double 

 detonaters, to work away at the " cripples," after you 

 have stocked the water with them, by the discharge 

 of your artillery. For thus finishing the business, 

 the percussion system is a sine qua non, as these 

 birds are sure to " duck the flash" after, if not before, 

 being wing broken ; and they will, when wounded, 

 shrug themselves up so much, that you ought to get 

 within fifteen yards, before you give them the coup 

 de grace. Hundreds of sportsmen would be glad to 

 take a punt, and follow you, on a fine sunshiny day, 

 for this purpose ; while you might either sit still and 

 enjoy the fun, or be proceeding for some other attack. 

 But the business must be done as quick as possible ; 

 or one half of the curres will be off, while you are 

 killing the others. Cartridges and all other expe- 

 ditious means are here desirable. Curres most fre- 

 quently keep afloat, instead of going on the mud. 



BRENT GEESE. Towards November, or Decem- 

 ber, we have the brent geese, which are always wild, 

 unless in very hard weather. In calm weather the 

 geese have the cunning, in general, to leave the mud, 

 as soon as the tide flows high enough to bear an 

 enemy, and then they go off to sea, and feed on the 

 drifting weeds. But when it blows so fresh, that 

 they cannot weather it long enough to feed outside 

 of the harbour, they then continue inside the whole 

 day ; though they most frequently take especial care 



