ON CONTINENTAL WATERS 229 



able shooting ever achieved with a punt-gun. The 

 entries in the ' Diary ' read as follows : 



1898. October u. Lauwers Zee. One shot, 149 



widgeon. 

 November 11. Lauwers Zee. One shot, 105 



widgeon and 17 teal. 

 November 29. Dollart. One shot, 132 teal. 



These marvellous performances were accomplished 

 with a gun firing 32 ounces of shot 75 pellets to the 

 ounce and six ounces of powder. The fowl were 

 collected by himself and punter without assistance, 

 and no birds were counted which were not picked 

 up on the spot and brought home in the punt. 



Shots exceeding one hundred birds are so rare 

 that it is instructive to learn the conditions under 

 which they were obtained. Captain Gould says : 



When the shot of 149 was got the widgeon were 

 placed to perfection on a steep sloping bank. From the 

 lowest birds to the highest the distance was not more 

 than six feet. The pack, however, did not contain an 

 unusually large number of birds, nor were they so 

 placed that I could fire along the line. The other shots 

 were taken at fowl on gently sloping banks, but at close 

 quarters, the range being about fifty yards. 



He adds that, although he has fired each year in 

 Holland at many similar packs of widgeon, the shots 

 were generally taken at ranges varying from seventy to 



