ROUGH SHOOTING 243 



meaning to it ; once it had a more limited 

 significance. 



My own father fowled along the shore, not 

 for profit, but for sport, and to see the ways 

 of creatures. It was but natural that his son 

 should do the same, and I have learned much 

 by joining some of our rough shooters. 



1 'Beach her!" 



" Beach be damned ! We're in the run o' the 

 tide, an' past the shingle. Keep her to it ; if 

 any gear gits loose, Davy's Locker will box the 

 lot of us. Hold on like grim death to a main- 

 mast ; fur it u'll be one thing or t'other in quick 

 sticks. Lash yer guns roun' the thwarts ; fur if 

 we has a chance, she's boun' to be half under 

 water, cum what will. Look out, all ! an' be 

 ready fur the worst. Here's a bit o' beach." 



That bit of beaching will never be forgotten 

 by one, at least, of the party ; for directly her 

 nose grated on the shingle, out the lot jumped 

 like cats, pulled her up, and there she had to 

 lie for a couple of days, drawn up in the bents 

 beyond high -water mark, until the weather 

 smoothed a bit. 



Fogs on low, sandy shores are the worst 

 things to be out in. Sometimes the fog rests 



