246 SHOOTING THE DUCK AND THE GOOSE 



half a gale of wind that our punt was several times in 

 danger of being swamped. The leaky sailing craft 

 which we had hired as a following boat nearly proved 

 a veritable death-trap for us, and it was only by con- 

 stant baling that we kept ourselves from sinking. All 

 ended well, however, and we came ashore with a nice 

 bag of twenty-four teal and widgeon, firmly resolving 

 never to risk the experiment again unless we could 

 secure a trustworthy skipper and a more seaworthy 

 boat. 



Grey geese sometimes come out to the sandbanks 

 in the Loire to rest, but we did not see any during 

 our short visit. Tame geese are reared in consider- 

 able numbers by the peasants in the Loire district, 

 and in their habits and flight they closely resemble 

 the wild birds. Serious mistakes might therefore 

 easily be made by a gunner in an uncertain light, 

 leading possibly to unpleasant complications with 

 their owners ; so we left the grey geese severely 

 alone. 



The wild-fowling records of the late Mr. Walter 

 Crawshay on the rivers Loire and Allier have ap- 

 peared from time to time in the columns of the 'Field.' 

 In 1892 he seems to have had exceptionally good 

 punting. His own bag comprised 579 mallard, 38 



teal, 12 widgeon, and 7 pintail ; whilst with the help 



' ; it 



