338 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



other things worth taking inside. If it is required 

 to be kept down at any time, it can be lashed. 



I will now say a few words about punts, and 

 other matters connected with duck -shooting, 

 whether from ship or shore. The dimensions I 

 shall afterwards give will be found to answer well ; 

 but should the fowler be a " heavy-weight," or 

 carry a very large gun, he may fancy a larger punt ; 

 if the contrary, a smaller one. The same rules for 

 construction will apply to both, with but slight 

 modifications. I will presently take two classes of 

 punts in hand, and build them straightway, one 

 for double-handed work, open water, and heavy 

 guns, the other for single-handed shooting in 

 smooth water, creeks, rivers, sheltered harbours, 

 and small inland lakes. I prefer at all times 

 " a double," large or small as the locality requires ; 

 it is safer and more sociable. It is always 

 pleasant to have a fellow-being near you, sympa- 

 thetic in your failures, and happy in your success. 

 It also carries a gun capable of doing far more 

 execution, whether you meet large or small com- 

 panies of fowl. 



To be caught out on a great lonely estuary in 

 a thick fog, in a single punt, alone, is one of the 

 most solitary and unpleasant positions I know of. 

 A long pull home, with a fading light and a 

 threatening sea and sky, by yourself, is equally 

 dreary and disagreeable. Two opinions are better 

 than one at all times, and six opinions would not 

 be too many on such occasions. In a small, safe, 

 land-locked harbour you know well, and which- 

 ever way you point must strike the shore, instead 



