26 The Confessions of a Poacher. 



a ditch a greater fish poacher than any in the 

 country side. One of our great resorts on 

 winter evenings was to an island which bor- 

 dered a disused mill-dam. This was thickly 

 covered with aquatic vegetation, and to it 

 came teal, mallard, and poachard. All through 

 the summer we had worked assiduously at a 

 small " dug-out," and in this we waited, snugly 

 stowed awav behind a willow root. When the 



j 



ducks appeared on the sky-line the old flint- 

 lock was out, a sharp report tore the darkness, 

 and a brace of teal or mallard floated down 

 stream, and on to the mill island. In this way 

 half a dozen ducks would be bagged, and, dead 

 or dying, they were left where they fell, and 

 retrieved next morning. Sometimes big game 

 was obtained in the shape of a brace of geese, 

 which proved themselves the least wary of a 

 flock ; but these only came in the severest 

 weather. 



Cutting the coppice, assisting the charcoal 

 burners, or helping the old woodman all gave 

 facilities for observing the habits of game, and 

 none of these opportunities were missed. In 



