78 SPORT IN EUROPE 



The districts shot over on the lower Scheldt are vast, but un- 

 important, comprising no preserves whatever. To shoot without 



restraint from Antwerp to Flushing, it is only necessary 

 Licences. 



to take out a Dutch licence (or " Groot Jacht Akte") 



costing about 22 florins,* and a Belgian licence costing 45 francs. f 

 The Dutch authorities, unwisely in my opinion, have recently in- 

 terdicted the punt gun, now allowing shoulder guns only, but in 

 Belgian waters there is no such restriction. 



Towards the Dutch frontier, north and east, lie great stretches 



of heath, marsh and fir-groves, and the greater part of the more 



sandy tracts are given over to the rabbits, of which enormous bags 



are made in some places. On the east, sixty-two miles of German 



frontier belong to the proprietors on the border and are overrun 



by the game of Rhenish Prussia. Seventy miles on the Luxemburg 



side, and over three hundred and eighty to the south 



. P , and west, join Belgium to the rich plains of French 



Flanders, so famous for their partridges, and also to 



the fine big game preserves of the Grand Duchy. Within the 



country are forests, vast cultivated plains, heaths and swamps, each 



with a distinctive fauna of its own. 



There are unfortunately several drawbacks to the 



Drawbacks r t^ 1 • 



J, sportmg prospects ot Belgmm. 



I. The properties are very much cut up, so that 



it is more and more difficult to make a sporting property of such 



extent as to warrant restocking and judicious preservation, 



2. The sporting law is badly framed, and it is to be hoped 



* I.e. about ^Ss. t i.e. rather over 35^. 



