DUCK SHOOTING. 251 



The next night we sailed for the Narrows of 

 Spesutia, where we had some good shooting 

 from the battery and from points. We were 

 here much amused with the deportment of 

 Davis, who seemed to move his eyes as on a 

 pivot, while watching for ducks behind the 

 rushes, keeping his head steadily fixed, all 

 alive as he was, espying, giving notice, and 

 knocking them down as if born to the business. 

 He was also at home in sailing and managing 

 the scow, and for picking out dead ducks from 

 the yawl in a rough sea, his eyes were not to 

 be excelled, except perhaps by those of McC. 

 who, we believe, carried a chart of each duck's 

 drift in his pocket. While harboring in one 

 of the creeks of the Narrows, we heard the 

 distant booming of the swivel guns of the 

 poachers, who "boat" the sleeping flocks by 

 moonlight, which mode of killing ducks, though 

 deservedly executed, has still a spice of adven- 

 ture in it, and is so far more defensible in our 

 eyes than the old, cold-blooded practice of 

 strangling them in the meshes of gill nets, while 

 diving for food on the shoals. 



The whole accursed French system of net- 

 ting ducks, partridges, and other birds, is well 

 worthy of its inventors, and although we do not 



