196 WILD-FOWLING AFLOAT BY NIGHT 



of the tide to proceed homewards, when several hun- 

 dred brent geese flew by overhead, and, after circling 

 round, pitched close to the edge of the mud-banks 

 which lay between us and an adjacent island. Under 

 the faint light of the moon we could see their black 

 forms on the shallows, and as soon as the flood-tide 

 began to 'make ' we pushed off to stalk them. Beyond 

 the geese on the dark mud a curious black excrescence 

 attracted our attention, but neither my puntsman nor 

 myself could satisfactorily explain it. It did not 

 move, nor had it the appearance of life. Whilst we 

 were cogitating as to what this object could be, the 

 geese suddenly flew up, and soon we saw what proved 

 to be a man standing upright in his box-like punt, 

 busily engaged in pushing it over the ooze towards 

 open water. Doubtless he had been lying buried in 

 the mud for hours, heedless of such discomforts as 

 wind and rain, on the chance that the geese might 

 come to pitch near him. Providentially all ended 

 well ; but, had the geese remained, there is no knowing 

 what might have happened. 



In speaking of the risks to which the midnight 

 punter is exposed, I should also emphasise the im- 

 prudence of operating during the hours of darkness 

 in a locality with which you are not perfectly familiar. 

 The prospect of being left high and dry on the mud- 



