190 KAIL. 



When the reeds are in this state, and even while in blossom, 

 the Rail are found to have taken possession of them in great 

 numbers. These are generally numerous in proportion to the 

 full and promising crop of the former. As you walk along the 

 embankment of the river, at this season, you hear them squeak- 

 ing in every direction, like young puppies; if a stone be thrown 

 among the reeds, there is a general outcry, and a reiterated kuk 

 kuk kuk, something like that of a guinea-fowl. Any sudden 

 noise, or the discharge of a gun, produces the same effect. In 

 the meantime, none are to be seen, unless it be at or near high- 

 water; for when the tide is low, they universally secrete them- 

 selves among the interstices of the reeds, and you may walk 

 past, and even over them, where there are hundreds, without 

 seeing a single individual. On their first arrival they are gene- 

 rally lean, and unfit for the table; but as the reeds ripen, they 

 rapidly fatten, and from the twentieth of September to the 

 middle of October are excellent, and eagerly sought after. The 

 usual method of shooting them, in this quarter of the country, 

 is as follows. The sportsman furnishes himself with a light 

 batteau, and a stout experienced boatman, with a pole of twelve 

 or fifteen feet long, thickened at the lower end, to prevent it 

 from sinking too deep into the mud. About two hours or so 

 before high-water, they enter the reeds, . and each takes his 

 post, the sportsman standing in the bow ready for action, the 

 boatman on the stern seat, pushing her steadily through the 

 reeds. The Rail generally spring singly, as the boat advances, 

 and at a short distance a-head, are instantly shot down, while 

 the boatman, keeping his eye on the spot where the bird fell, 

 directs the boat forward, and picks it up as the gunner is loading. 

 It is also the boatman's business to keep a sharp look-out, and 

 give the word mark, when a Rail springs on either side, without 

 being observed by the sportsman, and to note the exact spot 

 where it falls, until he has picked it up; for this once lost sight 

 of, owing to the sameness in the appearance of the reeds, is 

 seldom found again. In this manner the boat moves steadily 

 through, and over the reeds, the birds flushing and falling, tlu- 



