342 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



double. They therefore imagine, in their ignorance, 

 that nothing can equal their own small craft. Why ? 

 Because they are small. But they forget they are 

 not small in the right direction. As before said, 

 it is not the size of a double that scares the 

 fowl, nothing of the kind ; but the way they are 

 worked, the bad sculling, moving about, and the 

 anxious peeping over the gunwale by the young 

 shooter when setting to birds, as well as the not 

 knowing how to take full advantage of wind, tide, 

 and position. Mark the accomplished fowler the 

 stealthy, careful manner in which he shoves his 

 punt stem on to the birds when going for a shot ! 

 In that position his punt shows least hardly at 

 all sometimes and he is then surely steering to 

 ultimate success. 



I may here remark that devices to work punts 

 with padclle wheels and screws have often been 

 tried unsuccessfully. It must be borne in mind 

 that the best, and indeed usual, places to obtain 

 shots at fowl are in shallows, at the edges of banks, 

 up creeks, and over mud that may be covered by 

 but four or five inches of water. Any artificial 

 propelling power in the form of screw or wheel 

 must of necessity work below the line of the bottom 

 of the punt. Nothing could move her along that 

 did not grip the water at a greater depth than the 

 two or three inches she happens to float in. Of course 

 it is simple to make a wheel that would act fairly 

 well in deep water, but then how about a sudden 

 run into a shallow, where nearly all good shots are 

 made ? In deep water, however, nothing could act 

 better than well-feathered scull or paddles, according 



