340 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



open, but when they are decked all round, save a 

 small space in the centre, as in a duck-punt, the 

 case is altered. I may here note that " clinker- 

 built " punts, though admirable sea-boats, have two 

 fatal objections. They are pretty bits of carpentry 

 to look at, but for real work no good. They can- 

 not be quickly turned to right or left when aground 

 to get a shot, as can the ordinary smooth-bottomed 

 punt used for shooting. The edge of each plank 

 catches and obstructs. They have no strength to 

 stand the recoil of even a moderately heavy gun, 

 which recoil requires to be taken by the middle 

 plank of the bottom, and the two sides rigidly built 

 into the stem and stern. This combination cannot 

 be arranged in a clinker-built punt. In fact they 

 are not punts at all, but light punt-shaped wherries. 

 All the attempts I have seen at building such 

 punts, for a fair-sized gun, have proved failures. 

 For a small weapon, carrying perhaps half a pound, 

 they may answer well ; but then the shooter has to 

 lovingly hug a long ugly stock under his arm to 

 partly check the recoil, a clumsy method of shoot- 

 ing at all times, though not an uncommon one. 

 Besides this, clinker-built punts undoubtedly alarm 

 fowl in smooth water, and still weather, by the 

 rippling noise they make when urged forward. It 

 is not so much the slight unusual sounds that fowl 

 are scared by, but rather that they cause the birds 

 to be on the alert, and so look up and observe the 

 more startling fact of the fowlers themselves steal- 

 ing near. 



I have seen the cause and effect of what I write 

 exemplified in actual practice many different times. 



