SETTING-POLE AND PADDLES. 431 



good catch on the hand end, which may be further 

 improved by a thong of leather to slip the wrist 

 through. To hear your man whisper, or to find 

 from your own grasp, that the pole has slipped just 

 as you are getting well in shot, is no joke. On 

 looking back it will, probably, be seen yards off, 

 standing upright as a monument to your misfortune. 

 Getting at a paddle or oar, or going astern, may 

 raise the perhaps already startled fowl. If crossing 

 a channel when poling, and the water suddenly 

 deepens, ground will often be found by allowing the 

 punt to stand still till the pole stands upright, then 

 a good push may regain the shallow. 



Paddles. For a single or a double punt, when 

 required for actual paddling to fowl, these needs be 

 also weighted, so that they will float upright in the 

 water. For single punts, when side-paddled, the 

 dimensions should be as on next page. (See also long 

 double-bladed paddle for cruising in a small craft.) 

 For a double punt, the working paddle should be 

 four feet eight inches long ; blade, two feet three 

 inches in length, six inches wide, of thin oak, with 

 willow-handle. (See plan of double-handed fowl- 

 ing-punt, Plate 14, page 471.) Another, for fol- 

 lowing cripples, or stealing quietly about on the 

 look-out for a shot, may be made larger and more 

 powerful, but not weighted as the other : size, six 

 feet total length ; blade, two feet four inches at 

 widest, five inches (see same plan). 



This latter one is always handy on board. Two 

 men with paddles can send a punt along a very good 

 pace, even against wind and tide. The larger one 

 can be made to act as a little oar, when the oars 



