314 LAUNCHING 



goes the gun ; and no sooner have they picked up what 

 few birds are readily to be found, or missed the fowl, 

 which they very frequently do, as the punt, by even a 

 few periwinkles, might be thrown off the line of aim, 

 they proceed again ; thus travelling all night (by 

 " launching" over the mud, and rowing across the 

 creeks) in a direct line, similar to the march of an army 

 of coots. I should not omit to mention, that, as the 

 birds will seldom allow them to get into the punt to 

 fire, some of them draw the trigger with a string at the 

 end of the ramrod, and others creep up on one side, and 

 pull it off with the finger. 



A launching punt, in severe weather, may sometimes 

 be used to great advantage by day, when it blows such 

 a gale as to drive the wigeon in, from sea, to the 

 channel's edge, where they shelter themselves under 

 the lee of the mud ; and keep sufficiently in the " wash" 

 to prevent their legs from being frozen. Then it is 

 that a Hampshireman hauls his punt across the oozes, 

 if they are too hard frozen for him to launch her, and 

 gets into one of those little creeks, which, in very rough 

 weather, and at low water, can be approached by no other 

 means. He then paddles down the creek to where he sud- 

 denly pops on his game. If he can then catch the birds 

 clear of the rounding mud, he perhaps makes a capital 

 shot ; and, if not, he is obliged to hoot them up, and do 

 the best he can on the wing. As all this is more or less 

 among the breakers, he frequently half fills his boat in 

 the scramble ; but, as the channel's edge is generally 

 hard and shallow, he is in no serious danger, provided 

 he does not attempt to follow his outward-bound cripples. 

 After having made the shot, he catches up what birds he 

 can get ; and then hauls his punt upon the mud, in 



