WINTER DAYS ON BREYDON 25 



sharpest fowl you ever see ; they ' dove ' the moment they 

 saw the flash of your powder, and as for gettin' a wounded 

 one, well, it gave you a sweatin' they used wings and feet, 

 and would sooner drown'd than let you get 'em. 



" I once," said Pestell, " got a shot at some pokers after 

 a hard row through ' slub ' (half-frozen) ice, and havin 1 coU 

 lected 'em, I found it had got so hard I couldn't get back 

 to the channel again. 



" The ice formed on the oars as I paddled. My ice-pick was 

 too short to be any use, but I had my eel-pick on a long shaft 

 in the boat ; this I laid hold of, and chopped and pushed my 

 way out of it. The ice had so gathered on the boat, and 

 what with that and ' stock ice ' risin' from below with the 

 weeds and stuff on it, gave me a pretty good doing to gettin' 

 home ! 



" I once see the most beautiful white nun smew, you 

 know secured in the harbour on a piece of floatin' ice ; it 

 couldn't fly, for its feet had got frozen in ! 



" Did I often see birds fast like that? Well, no; but it was 

 nothin' uncommon to see wounded stints and sich-like small 

 birds what had had legs broken by shot, with one of their 

 feet in a reg'lar ball of ice from dip, dip, dippin' them in the 

 water, and the water freezin' on 'em." 



He had often had ice get to le'ward of him on the ebb, and, 

 being caught and pushed back by the early flood, it had sur- 

 rounded him, and escape had been impossible but for using 

 his ice-hook a rather heavier weapon than a boat-hook. 

 He had seen too, as I have, the huge guiding stakes in the 

 channel lifted bodily by the ice clinging around them, drawn 

 as the tide lifted, and carried away. Five shillings was the 

 reward given by the River Commissioners, who claimed them* 



Sport had been slack for some days on Breydon (this was 

 in the /o's) . 



" It blowed terrific one day, and well into the night," said 

 Pestell. " I dropt into the Pleasure Boat tavern for a game 

 of * crib.' Comin' home late, I noticed the wind had suddenly 

 dropt. I'd got to hear that a tremenj.uss lot of fowl had gone 

 to Breydon, so, to my missus's surprise, I put on my things, 

 and told her I was goin' up. I shoved off and pulled against 

 a ragin' ebb, makin' for the houseboat then lying near the 

 Stone Corner. Half-way up Duffell's drain, I stuck in an oar, 



