FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. , 385 



rented his share of the water. He informed me, that 

 the huttiers never allowed shooting from a boat, or at 

 birds on wing, through fear of disturbing the pond ; 

 and said, that his plan was to take his night's rest, 

 and leave the birds till a little before daylight ; when 

 they would be all doubled together ; and when a shot 

 would do far less mischief to the decoy than if fired 

 before the birds had fed and slept. Here he is per- 

 fectly right. But that if a " grande compagnie" 

 should drop, the noise would awaken him, and he 

 could then take his choice whether to fire or not. 

 After inspecting all his apparatus by day, he would 

 make me go with him by night, and being unwell 

 at the time, and unprepared, I was scarcely in the 

 humour to do this, particularly as I knew that it was 

 pnst the time of year for this kind of sport. I agreed, 

 however, to go, and was conducted to one of his best 

 intrenchments, where his twelve decoy birds, all in 

 battle array, were placed under the light of a beauti- 

 ful moon, within the quarter of an English gun shot 

 of his hut, which was uncomfortably warm. Here 

 I remained, more likely to be suffocated than chilled, 

 for I know not how many hours ; but not a wild-duck 

 ever came, though his three alignements of decoy- 

 birds kept chattering away, like the other bipeds of 

 the French nation ; and although the whole valley, 

 for a league, was resounding with the quacking of 

 decoy ducks, and defended by the masters of them, 

 yet I could not have the honour to say, I had -seen 

 or heard the firing of a single shot. Had my ex- 



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